I want to offer some thoughts on this entire situation. First, it very clearly is demonic. You don't need any specialized treatment. Anyone with a brain can read even the details that are available and draw that conclusion. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/louisiana-church-reconsecrated-after-demonic-desecration-details-about-fr-travis-clark-emerge-81031

Second, this priest's eternal salvation is in grave danger. We can't lose sight of that. We need to pray and fast for his conversion and that he is given the grace to make a good, sincere, humble confession. We talk about how no sin is beyond God's mercy to forgive, save one.

God can't forgive the sin of final impenitence, because we don't want His forgiveness. (What the Scriptures call, the "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.") So, as bad as this is, Fr. Clark (and yes, he remains a priest forever, even if he is rightly dismissed from the clerical state),

is, like any of us, one good confession from being restored to a state of sanctifying grace. Is he possessed? I don't know. Probably, to be honest. But whether he is or isn't, being in a state of mortal sin is infinitely worse. Being possessed can't cause one to be damned.

Only losing sanctifying grace can do that. So, does Fr. Clark need an exorcism? Again, probably. But more than that, he needs a good confession, and ASAP.

Third, it really bothers me to read about his seminary formation, and it bothers me on a number of levels. First, yes, the seminary should have called time out on his formation. I don't expect every priest to be a St. Thomas Aquinas.

But I DO expect my brothers to have studied well. As one formator routinely said, "The quota on stupid priests is full." And as this professor notes, lack of attentiveness at the "altar of his desk," would inevitably point to lack of attentiveness at the altar of sacrifice.

But, this notion that deviant priests are all products of a poor seminary system is lacking, IMHO. At the end of the day, we're responsible for our own growth in holiness. The Council of Trent teaches that our first responsibility is the salvation of our own souls.

Does the seminary system have a role to play? Absolutely. But ultimately, the onus is on the individual seminarian to: pray, exercise, study, engage in his apostolic work, get adequate sleep, and disclose issues with a formation director and spiritual director.

I don't know Fr. Clark, and I didn't attend this seminary. But if we're going to lay blame, I place about 99% of it on the priest, and about 1% on the seminary.

Correction...in #1...*training, not "treatment."