What Exactly Is A "Soul Tie?"
QUESTION? / COMMENT!
What Exactly Is A "Soul Tie"? Is That A Prot Concoction? Why Should Catholics Believe That?
ANSWER! / COMMENT!
Freedom Through Christ Companion Guide
Intellectual property of Fr Ripperger & Kyle Clement (lay assistant in ministry of exorcism for last 17 years)
The Catholic Approach to Liberation
Holy and Unholy Alliances
Holy and unholy alliances, or soul ties, are alliances formed either by family relationship or by acting in conjunction with another person. In certain acts with another person, we can conspire to commit to do an act of good or of evil. Teaching on holy and unholy alliances traces its roots to Pope St. Leo the Great.
From a sermon on the beatitudes by Saint Leo the Great, Pope:
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. This blessedness, dearly beloved, does not derive from any casual agreement or from any and every kind of harmony, but it pertains to what the Apostle says: Be at peace before the Lord, and to the words of the prophet: Those who love your law shall enjoy abundant peace; for them it is no stumbling block.
Even the most intimate bonds of friendship and the closest affinity of minds cannot truly lay claim to this peace if they are not in agreement with the will of God. Alliances based on evil desires, covenants of crime and pacts of vice—all lie outside the scope of this peace. Love of the world cannot be reconciled with love of God, and the man who does not separate himself from the children of this generation cannot join the company of the sons of God. But those who keep God ever in their hearts, and are anxious to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, never dissent from the eternal law as they speak the prayer of faith. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
These then are the peacemakers; they are bound together in holy harmony and are rightly given the heavenly title of sons of God, co-heirs with Christ .And this is the reward they will receive for their love of God and neighbor: when their struggle with all temptation is finally over, there will be no further adversities to suffer or scandal to fear; but they will rest in the peace of God undisturbed, through our Lord who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.[1]
Holy Alliances
A holy alliance reflects the sanctifying effect of properly ordered soul ties and is formed in and through righteous relationships through vocation, devotion, service of God, service of Church, purification, community, redemptive suffering, trials, practice of heroic virtue(s), Christian fraternity, and pursuit of holiness. These soul ties are a positive influence on the soul and help lead the soul toward God. Proper soul ties are developed in the pursuit of spiritual perfection through the keeping of the commandments.
Unholy Alliances
Unholy alliances, or negative soul ties, are formed in practices and associations which are a perversion and corruption of the above. A classic example of an improper soul tie is formed when two people, who are not married or not in a sacramental marriage, engage in the nuptial act. This act is reserved to sacramental marriage for the purpose of glorifying God through procreation and/or consummating the vocation of marriage. The two “ends” of marriage, then, are the procreation of children and the unity of the couple. When those “ends” are thwarted, unholy alliances can form. Negative soul ties are forged in the co-transgression of the commandments, that is, when we commit grave sin with another person.
[1] Sermon 95, 8-9. In J. P. Migne, Patrologie cursus completus: series Latina, vol. 54 (Paris: Imprimerie Catholique, 1845-55), pp. 465-466.