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The practice of channeling spirits has been around for thousands of years and has never failed to generate controversy, debate, and countless questions.

More than 500 years ago, a 12-year-old farm girl reported hearing voices and then claimed God was telling her to lead France. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for heresy, but a church court later found her innocent and she became a saint in 1920.

Several clergy and mental-health experts, when questioned about the channeling of a dead saint, offered diverse opinions.

The Rev. Charles Singler, director of the office of worship for the Toledo Catholic Diocese and rector of Rosary Cathedral, said the church carefully assesses each individual case.

“I’m certain that the church always does an investigation with regard to people who have elocutions or apparitions,” he said. “The church doesn’t automatically embrace those kinds of things. There are proper channels and processes to go through to understand and legitimize what is happening.”

Father Singler said some apparitions have been deemed legitimate by the Catholic Church after investigation, including appearances of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes and Fatima.

Locally, visionary Sally Steadman built a shrine on Coy Road in Oregon where the Virgin Mary speaks regularly through her at public gatherings. The late Bishop James Hoffman declared the visions to be a “private revelation,” and neither endorsed nor rebuked them.

The Rev. George Barrett, pastor of Foundation Stone Christian Church in Northwood, said the Bible in Leviticus 19 specifically forbids channeling or calling up spirits.

“Well first of all I believe it’s possible,” he said. “I know some might not believe that spirits are real and that we as human beings can channel spirits, but in the Bible, the Lord forbid any kind of channeling of spirits.”

He cited the biblical book of I Samuel, Chapter 28, in which King Saul orders the Witch of Endor to call up the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel. And in the Book of Acts, Paul cast a spirit out of a slave girl who had been accurately predicting the future.

Mr. Barrett, whose nondenominational Protestant church teaches deliverance of spirits, said he believes people who call up spirits are actually dealing with demonic forces posing as saints.

“Much of Jesus’ ministry was casting out demons,” he said. “These things are real and we try to help our people understand the spirit realm.”

The Rev. Steven Glasgow, of the alternative spiritual group Toledo Light Co-Op, said he has seen Dottie Zimmerman channel Padre Pio and believes that it is “absolutely authentic. There is no doubt in my mind.”

“How blown away do you want to be?” Mr. Glasgow said of the process. He said Padre Pio made references to “personal information that nobody knew but me. That’s pretty awesome.”

Dr. Lurley Archambeau, a Maumee psychiatrist, said psychiatry “needs to be based in science,” but it is impossible to use empirical data to prove or disprove paranormal phenomena such as channeling.

“Certainly in our society where a great deal of freedom is allowed, one can think and espouse very odd thoughts and beliefs,” he said.

Society’s view of spirituality can change over time, he added. The sun’s rising each day used to be a mystery and inspired worship, for example.

“The concept of spirituality is something that is beyond our comprehension. It becomes spiritual because I don’t understand it,” Dr. Archambeau said.

Kevin Anderson, a local psychologist, author, and columnist for the Catholic Chronicle, said he also strives to find a balance between science and mystery.

“I am committed to science but there is an openness. One of my favorite quotes is by Albert Einstein: ‘There are two ways to live your life, one is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle.’

“That’s coming from one of the greatest scientific minds of all time. If we are skeptical of everything, then we lose a sense of the miraculous,” Mr. Anderson said.
— David Yonke

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