The Catholic ghost story

Fr. John Hardon, SJ in his Modern Catholic Dictionary defines "ghost" as:

... a disembodied spirit. Christianity believes that God may, and sometimes does, permit a departed soul to appear in some visible form to people on earth. Allowing for legend and illusion, there is enough authentic evidence, for example in the lives of the saints, to indicate that such apparitions occur. Their purpose may be to teach or warn, or request some favor of the living” (p. 229).

Hmmm, if you are interested read this review of "Holy Ghosts" by Gary Jansen.