Pope's exorcist squads will wage war on Satan

[The_Professor]

Pope's exorcist squads will wage war on Satan
By NICK PISA - More by this author ?
 
Last updated at 16:34pm on 29th December 2007

Satanism on the rise: Pope Benedict has unveiled plans to set up specialist exorcism squads

The Pope has ordered his bishops to set up exorcism squads to tackle the rise of Satanism.


Vatican chiefs are concerned at what they see as an increased interest in the occult.

They have introduced courses for priests to combat what they call the most extreme form of "Godlessness."

Each bishop is to be told to have in his diocese a number of priests trained to fight demonic possession.

The initiative was revealed by 82-year-old Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican "exorcistinchief," to the online Catholic news service Petrus.

"Thanks be to God, we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head-on," he said.

"Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist.

"Thankfully, Benedict XVI believes in the existence and danger of evil - going back to the time he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith." The CDF is the oldest Vatican department and was headed by Benedict from 1982, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, until he became Pope in 2005.

Father Amorth said that during his time at the department Benedict had not lost the chance to warn humanity of the risk from the Devil.

He said the Pope wants to restore a prayer seen as protection against evil that was traditionally recited at the end of Catholic Masses. The prayer, to St Michael the Archangel, was dropped in the 1960s by Pope John XXIII.

The 1973 film The Exorcist deals with the demonic possession of a young girl: Now the Pope wants specialist exorcism squads in every parish


"The prayer is useful not only for priests but also for lay people in helping to fight demons," he said.

Father Paolo Scarafoni, who lectures on the Vatican's exorcism course, said interest in Satanism and the occult has grown as people lost faith with the church.

He added: "People suffer and think that turning to the Devil can help solve their problems. We are being bombarded by requests for exorcisms."

The Vatican is particularly concerned that young people are being exposed to the influence of Satanic sects through rock music and the Internet.

In theory, under the Catholic Church's Canon Law 1172, all priests can perform exorcisms. But in reality only a select few are assigned the task.

Under the law, practitioners must have "piety, knowledge, prudence, and integrity of life."

The rite of exorcism involves a series of gestures and prayers to invoke the power of God and stop the "demon" influencing its victim.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=504969&in_page_id=1811&Satan=Santa

[Henny]

Awesome.

Fr. Amorth wrote a wonderful book that I read some years back that really explained possession and exorcism very well - and he successfully explained why people's "Hollywood" perception of the topic is so incorrect.

http://www.amazon.com/Exorcist-Tells-His-Story/dp/0898707102

[Xavier_Onassis]

The power of CHRIST compels thee! The power of CHRIST compels thee!

Exorcism squads.  hee hee.

[hnumpah]

Brings to mind images of jackbooted priests in black robes banging on doors in the middle of the night...

[Michael Tee]

<<Each bishop is to be told to have in his diocese a number of priests trained to fight demonic possession. >>

WHEW.  I feel safer already.

[Xavier_Onassis]

This has always been a problem as I see it.

For sane people these days, witchcraft, pacts with the Devil, jinns, demons and demonic possession are just silly medieval nonsense. We can explain spiritual possession of he sort one sees in Cuban santeria and Hatian vodoo where people (nearly always women) and "mounted" by Babalu Aye, or Chango or whomever with the psychology of trance-dancing and such that manifests itself in traditional societies in nearly every religious persuasion.

But there is always that passage, in the supposedly infallible Bible, in which Jesus and his disciples come upon a poor fellow inhabited by demons. Jesus casts the demons into the bodies of a heard of pigs, who them become suicidal and drown themselves in the Sea of Galilee. It is called the event of the Gaderine Swine. Personally, I would expect that al all-powerful Deity could just make spirits disappear *poof!* like that, rather than impoverish some poor sap of a swineherd. Just because Jews do not eat pigs does not mean that they are without value to their owner, after all. Nowhere does it mention that Jesus compensated this fellow for the loss of his porcine charges.


I find the entire exorcism schtick to be laughable.

But perhaps I am inhabited by very clever demons...

[_JS]

In general, Catholics don't consider the Bible to be "infallible" as fundamentalist Protestants do (neither is the Pope infallible as the majority of non-Catholics mistakenly think that Catholics believe he is).

There are, in fact, Catholic priests, monks, and nuns who are licensed psychologists or trained counselors who have degrees and studied Freud, Jung, and modern psychological, neurological, and psychiatric theories.

As I generally caution when anything is written in the Daily Mail, it is probably only 15% of the story and 85% of the Mail's bizarre slant.

But having said that, I consider myself an educated and maybe a person of average intelligence - yet, I believe in demons and angels. I don't think either fits the mold of either Faust's cloven-hooved, red-tailed monster or Swedenborg's winged beauties, but I do think there is a place for exorcism.

[Plane]

When a person wants an exorcism , what must he do to have one?

[Xavier_Onassis]

But having said that, I consider myself an educated and maybe a person of average intelligence - yet, I believe in demons and angels. I don't think either fits the mold of either Faust's cloven-hooved, red-tailed monster or Swedenborg's winged beauties, but I do think there is a place for exorcism.
===================================================
Well, that sort of makes sense, since you pretty much have to believe in demons to think exorcism has a place.

I find it interesting however, that you have decided to consider yourself "modern" by disbelieving in red horned devils.

Angels are said to be capable of flight, so that would mean that they need wings. Lucifer is an ex-angel, so one can only imagine that he would have wings as well. The hooves I guess are related to the image of the scapegoat.

But if evil is a result of temptation, and people are responsible for being lured into temptation, then how could it be that God would permit demonic possession against a person's will?

Are all insane people possessed by Satan, or just some of them? Should we provide funds at out mental institutions for exorcisms? It stands to reason that you should be all for government funded research into satanic possession, lest demons threaten our national health.


Do you prefer the angelic image of Michael Landon, John Travolta or Della Reese to the traditional St. Michael the Archangel image? Do angels walk among us? Do they really get their wings when people reject suicide and do nice things for one another?

Should I be able to do my PhD dissertation on the nature of angels and/or demons?

What about ghosts? I'm sure you reject Caspar, but what about lost souls flitting about annoying the living?

A sincere belief in angels and devils and demons and such certainly raises a lot of questions about the separation of church & state. If most Americans believe in angels and demons, why don't we spend more money on researching them, anyway. Isn't the fact that we don;t do this all the fault of liberal secular humanists.

Why doesn't Rush ever address really important issues like angels and demons.?

Are Lucifer, Satan, and Beelzebub different entities, or are they some sort of unholy Trinity?

[_JS]

When a person wants an exorcism , what must he do to have one?

I don't know the answer with certainty, but it starts with a talk with the local priest. There is an investigation if the Bishop approves and if the case is deemed worthy it goes further into Vatican channels before any exorcism is ever conducted. Most exorcisms last months or years and aren't as exciting as the famous film (or one's depicted by film in general) claim show them to be.

Also, psychologists and psychiatrists are called as well as general physicians and even specialists (neurologists, for example) to ensure that any physiological or psychological problem is not the cause. I'm not sure that statistics are released by the Holy See, but I think that the vast majority of cases never make it to exorcism.

It should be noted that there are Protestant churches that perform exorcisms as well. Some Baptists and Pentacostals do so, in varying procedures (I'm not very familiar with them at all).

[_JS]

But having said that, I consider myself an educated and maybe a person of average intelligence - yet, I believe in demons and angels. I don't think either fits the mold of either Faust's cloven-hooved, red-tailed monster or Swedenborg's winged beauties, but I do think there is a place for exorcism.
===================================================
Well, that sort of makes sense, since you pretty much have to believe in demons to think exorcism has a place.

I find it interesting however, that you have decided to consider yourself "modern" by disbelieving in red horned devils.

Angels are said to be capable of flight, so that would mean that they need wings. Lucifer is an ex-angel, so one can only imagine that he would have wings as well. The hooves I guess are related to the image of the scapegoat.

But if evil is a result of temptation, and people are responsible for being lured into temptation, then how could it be that God would permit demonic possession against a person's will?

Are all insane people possessed by Satan, or just some of them? Should we provide funds at out mental institutions for exorcisms? It stands to reason that you should be all for government funded research into satanic possession, lest demons threaten our national health.

I tend to think that most of the "demons" referred to in the Bible as being "driven out" were likely cured mental illnesses. Schizophrenia, depression with psychotic episodes, bipolar disorder, and other such illnesses carry a heavy stigma today so you can imagine at the time that even if Gospel authors like Luke or John understood the diseases (through the Holy Spirit) there was no possible way for them to relate that knowledge to their audiences. It was a situation akin to those who had been outside of Plato's allegorical cave trying to describe what they saw to those who had never ventured outside.

Do you prefer the angelic image of Michael Landon, John Travolta or Della Reese to the traditional St. Michael the Archangel image? Do angels walk among us? Do they really get their wings when people reject suicide and do nice things for one another?

Really? I don't mind making fun of my beliefs, but Monty Python was far more entertaining in Life of Brian.

Should I be able to do my PhD dissertation on the nature of angels and/or demons?

Absolutely, though that's a bit vague. I bet there are religious studies, anthropology, sociology, and maybe history theses on similar subjects with more refined theses.

What about ghosts? I'm sure you reject Caspar, but what about lost souls flitting about annoying the living?

I don't blieve in ghosts, and before you ask - neither do I believe in vampires, the bogeyman, disco duck, or G.W.'s secret genius.

A sincere belief in angels and devils and demons and such certainly raises a lot of questions about the separation of church & state. If most Americans believe in angels and demons, why don't we spend more money on researching them, anyway. Isn't the fact that we don;t do this all the fault of liberal secular humanists.

I don't know, we haven't looked through all of the CIA files from the 80's. I mean, we did have a President who believed in shooting down missiles with a giant space ray gun!

Why doesn't Rush ever address really important issues like angels and demons?

It would take a deeper discussion than would fit on a bumper sticker?

Are Lucifer, Satan, and Beelzebub different entities, or are they some sort of unholy Trinity?

Lucifer is the Latin word for "light-bearer" taken from the Greek (phosphorous). Dante Allighieri popularized the use of it as another term for Satan. Satan comes from Hebrew (and is similar in Persian and Arabic) and means "to be hostile" as well as "adversary." It was the name given to the fallen angel.

Beelzebub was the same as the deity Ba'al, worshiped in parts of the Middle East. The title was simply given to Satan, much like Lucifer. Arthur Golding used the reference more clearly when he titled his book Lord of the Flies i.e. Beelzebub (or Baal).

[Xavier_Onassis]

Beelzebub was the same as the deity Ba'al, worshiped in parts of the Middle East. The title was simply given to Satan, much like Lucifer. Arthur Golding used the reference more clearly when he titled his book Lord of the Flies i.e. Beelzebub (or Baal).

===================================================================
Baal was the "husband" of Ishtar, the goddess of fertility.

In the Ten Commandments, it does not say I am the ONLY God, it says, "Thous shalt have no gods before me", which I think can only mean that the existence of other, lesser and less worthy gods, do exist.

The idols had devices within them that caused parts of the idol to move, and some sort of device wherby the priests could make it speak with what I can say much have been an impressively holy-sounding voice.

A lot of Middle Eastern men have high, annoying squeaky voices. Theye are like the toy fox terriers, the yappy dogs, of humanity. One rarely encounters a James Earl Jones voice in that part of the world. Buy my guess is that the exceptionally deep voice (like Henry Kissinger's, for example) would make a great priest. But without the Cherman aksent, of course.

I think the name Baal became Beelzebub, whether the actual deity actually exists, this I seriously doubt.