The Exorcism Thread

[Mighty_Emperor]

Exorcist decribes demons to UA students

By Rebecca Perlow, Staff Writer
Published: Monday, April 11, 2005


Monsignor James Mancini, pastor at St. Joseph's Catholic Church of Tontitown and exorcist for the Arkansas Diesis for the Roman Catholic Church, discussed exorcism and deliverance ministry.

"A lot of the things that we think are so inhuman are inhuman," Mancini said.

More than 100 people turned out to hear Mancini's talk on deliverance ministry, prayer, and means of freeing people from demonic possession. Many were members of the Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship and Catholic Campus Ministry, the sponsoring organizations of the pastor's lecture.

Mancini first became involved in deliverance ministry 25 years ago as a national board member for the Charismatics, an informal fellowship of Christians who believe in present-day manifestations of the Holy Spirit such as healing, miracles and speaking in tongues. Mancini led a symposium of theologians, counselors and psychologists in Houston in 1980 on deliverance prayer and possible demonic interference in people's lives. Later, he was invited to assume his exorcist position by the bishop of the Arkansas Diesis of Roman Catholic Church.

"When we talk about spirits, we're talking about substantial beings without material composition," Mancini said. "It's very much a part of our Christian and Jewish belief that there are spirits in the world. Most of the world cultures have some reference or some word that indicates spirit -- the invisible but real."

He described demons as being atmospheric or personal spirits with a nature superior to that of humans and highly manipulative. Atmospheric spirits include tangible emotions such as temptation and aggravation, which have to be dealt with individually. Personal spirits, spirits with a name and a malevolent agenda, can be described as demonic possession. An exorcism is performed only in cases of demonic possession, he said.

According to the Catholic ritual of exorcism, which was written in the 14th century, one of the earliest steps requires the exorcist to determine whether the trouble that the person is experiencing is natural or supernatural.

"Mental anguish, mental disease, emotional instability, those are real things too," Mancini said. "They're not necessarily caused by demons by any means. We do enough trouble as human beings to get the trouble from that."

Mancini described "spiritual warfare" as a legitimate battle between demonic forces and humanity on a personal basis, and humanity's power to fight back, he said.

"Exorcism is an act of authority," Mancini said. "What does it mean to have authority? You have the power to command in the name of God. We are ambassadors in the name of Christ."

Source (requires free registration)

 

[lopaka]

Toddler dies in exorcism

JAKARTA: Four-year-old Anisa Nabila died early on Wednesday in Susukan subdistrict, East Jakarta, after the girl's family attempted to perform an "exorcism" on her. The cause of death is thought to be asphyxiation.

According to the Ciracas Police, the family was awakened at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday by Anisa's aunt, Dewi, who claimed that she and Anisa had been possessed by an evil spirit. Anisa was reportedly suffering convulsions at the time.

Anisa's grandmother, Rahayu, her parents, Faisal and Heni, and her uncle Hendri and auntie Yati, decided to try and drive this spirit out of Anisa's body, KompasCyberMedia reported on Thursday.

They circled the young girl and wrapped her up in clothes while Dewi slapped her in the face. They then covered Anisa and themselves with a tarpaulin.

"It was about 5:30 a.m. when we realized that Anisa was stiff. We took her to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital. The doctors there said that she was dead," her father, Faisal, said.

Neighbors, suspecting the little girl had been assaulted, reported her death to the police.

Ciracas Police chief Adj. Comr. Wijanarko said officers had questioned family members and were awaiting the results of Anisa's autopsy. -- JP

All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
[email protected]

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailcit ... I09&irec=8

 

[ramonmercado]

Pssst. Where the devil is the exorcists convention?

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Orthodontists have national conventions, as do lawyers and computer salespeople. So, some might say, why not exorcists?

ADVERTISEMENT

At the end of his weekly general audience on Wednesday Pope Benedict greeted Italian exorcists who, he disclosed, are currently having their national convention, presumably in Rome.

The Pope encouraged them to "carry on their important work in the service of the Church."

Problem was, that until the Pope spoke, few people outside the inner circle knew that a convention of Beelzebub busters was going on, presumably in Rome.

And where are they holding it? A church, a hotel, a graveyard?

"They try to keep these things quiet," said a Catholic professor who has dealings with exorcists.

The Roman Catholic Church has shown growing interest in exorcism in Italy.

In 1999, the Vatican issued its first updated ritual for exorcism since 1614 and warned that the devil is still at work.

The official Roman Catholic exorcism starts with prayers, a blessing and sprinkling of holy water, the laying on of hands on the possessed, and the making of the sign of the cross.

It ends with an "imperative formula" in which the devil is ordered to leave the possessed.

The formula begins: "I order you, Satan..." It goes on to denounce Satan as "prince of the world" and "enemy of human salvation". It ends: "Go back, Satan."

A Vatican university announced last Thursday that for the second year running it will hold a course on exorcism and Satanism for Roman Catholic priests.

The course starts next month at the Regina Apostolorum, one of Rome's most prestigious pontifical universities, and this year participants can take it not only in person at the Rome campus but via videoconference from other Italian cities.

This, a university statement said, was because of great interest after last year's course, which was attended by nearly 130 people.

The four-month course, which begins in October, is what the university calls inter-disciplinary. It includes medical, psychological and religious aspects of Satanism and exorcism.

According to some estimates, as many as 5,000 people are thought to be members of Satanic cults in Italy with 17-to 25-year-olds making up three quarters of them.

Interest in the devil and the occult has been boosted by films such as "The Exorcist" in 1973 and last year's "Exorcist: The Beginning".

Last year, Italy was gripped by the story of two teenage members of a heavy metal rock band called the "Beasts of Satan" who were killed by other band members in a human sacrifice.

The deaths horrified Catholic Italy, with pages of newspapers given over to descriptions of the black candles and goats' skulls decorating one victim's bedroom and witness statements of sexual violence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050914/od_ ... _exorcists

 

[ramonmercado]

First day of school for aspiring Vatican exorcists

First day of school for aspiring Vatican exorcists
By Philip Pullella




It was the first day of school, so some students were understandably nervous. But then again, they were not taking just any course, but one run by a Vatican university to teach aspiring demonologists and exorcists.

"There is no doubt that the devil is intervening more in the life of man these days," Father Paolo Scarafoni told the students, most of them priests who want to learn how to tackle the demon if they should ever encounter him.

"Not all of you will become exorcists but it is indispensable that every priest knows how to discern between demonic possession and psychological problems," he said.

The four-month course, called "Exorcism and the Prayer of Liberation," is being offered for the second year by Pontifical Regina Apostolorum University on Rome's outskirts.

The about 120 students from around the world will hear lectures on topics such as the pastoral, spiritual, theological, liturgical, medical, legal and criminological aspects of Satanism and demonic possession.

One planned lecture is called: "Problems related to exorcism and correlated issues."

One priest, who asked not to be identified, said he decided to take the course after a "very unsettling experience" while hearing the confession of one young member of his parish.

"Her voice changed, her face was transformed and she started speaking in a language that she did not know," he said. "I've met people who are suffering from this problem and it is not as rare as we might imagine."

So, will he be ready to wrestle with demons of the kind who may have possessed his parishioner in the confessional box?

"If, after this course, my superiors decide that it will be useful for me to become an exorcist, I will do it," he said.

REAL-LIFE EXORCISTS

Interest in the devil and the occult has been boosted by films such as this year's "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," and last year's "Exorcist: The Beginning," which was the sequel to the original "The Exorcist" in 1973.

But forget the films. The students will have several real-life and well known exorcists to teach them.

One is Father Gabriele Nanni, who attended Thursday's opening class and spoke to Reuters during a break.

"First thing is the priest has to know if the devil is at work in a person or if the problem is somewhere else," he said.

Nanni said there are four sure signs that pointed to demonic possession rather than psychological problems.

He listed them as:

"When someone speaks or understands languages they normally do not; when their physical strength is disproportionate to their body size or age; when they are suddenly knowledgeable about occult practices; when they have a physical aversion to sacred things, such as the communion host or prayers".

According to some estimates, as many as 5,000 people are thought to be members of Satanic cults in Italy with 17-to 25-year-olds making up three quarters of them.

In 1999, the Vatican updated its ritual for exorcism.

It starts with prayers, a blessing and sprinkling of holy water, the laying on of hands on the possessed, and the making of the sign of the cross.

The formula begins: "I order you, Satan..." It goes on to denounce Satan as "prince of this world" and "enemy of human salvation". It ends: "Go back, Satan."

Exorcism

 

[ramonmercado]

Priest battled with Satan

Priest battled with Satan
Ottawa-area cleric helped the possessed find deliverance from demonic oppression

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By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News
Ottawa

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While not every person who dabbles in the occult ends up spiritually obsessed, even a trip to a fortune teller can open one up to demonic oppression, says an Ottawa area priest.

He believes because he has helped people find deliverance from demonic obsession and harassment.

"You're simply asking for trouble," says the priest. "What are you doing? You're looking for knowledge or power from a source other than God. You've invited stuff in."

Recipe for cleansing
But through the renunciation of sins and occult activities, Confession and prayer, "the stuff lifts instantly," he says.

The priest, who asked that his name be kept confidential, recalls the days in the late 1970s to mid-1980s when, in another diocese, he served on a prayer team helping people find deliverance.

Father "Mike" says that traumatic and frightening experiences, long-term unrepentant sin patterns, drug and alcohol use can also open some people up to demonic obsession. So can activities and sins of previous generations in a family.

"We are going to be walking through some pretty awful stuff. All over the place evil is flaunted," Father Mike says, noting especially the explosion of pornography.

"Good people get weighed down," he says.

He says people are ignorant about how demonic oppression can bring obsessions, depression and other forms of spiritual harassment.

Father Mike says the scariest thing that happened in those years occurred when a man seeking help was seated in a heavy oak chair with solid wood armrests.

Once the prayers started, the chair lifted about six to eight inches off the ground and began to bounce. The team members had to hook their feet over the chair rungs to hold it in place.

Father Mike found it terrifying, but the team kept praying.

The man in the chair at one point told the team he was tired and wanted to take a break and go home.

They knew it was the evil spirit trying to distract them, so they kept going.

Five hours later, the man was free and "mercifully" had no memory of what had taken place.

Father Mike says that he did not do exorcisms because the level of demonic involvement and possession requiring an exorcism is deeper than obsession - which he describes as harassment from within.

A priest needs specific permission of the diocesan bishop to use the exorcism rite.

Father Mike and his team, which included another priest and a laywoman, operated with the knowledge and permission of the two bishops who served in that other diocese during the late '70s to mid-'80s.

"Evil spirits will not look at a crucifix: It symbolizes defeat."
- Fr. Mike
Father Mike says he "fell into" the deliverance ministry, and one reason why he wishes to remain anonymous is that he no longer does this kind of work.

"It's not something you do for fun," he says. "You get dragged in.

"You do it because someone you know is suffering. I don't go looking for trouble."

He learned about deliverance prayer while active in the charismatic movement and believes that most other Canadian Catholic priests who have experience in this area also come from that movement.

He says that much ignorance and lack of awareness surrounds the role of the demonic in mental health, and "sometimes people were simply sent off to a psychiatrist," when they had a spiritual problem.

"I think it (deliverance) is part of the healing ministry," Father Mike says.

In fact, when Father Mike was serving near a mental hospital, two or three psychiatrists began sending some of their patients for deliverance prayer because of the success of the prayer team.

Psychiatric referral
One psychiatrist brought a patient he'd been treating for seven years without much success, and watched that individual undergo "a tremendous change in three hours," Father Mike says.

Father Mike says that great discernment is necessary to determine when a problem has a spiritual origin and when it's simply mental illness.

That's why he thinks it is wise for anyone doing this to work in a team.

"We have made distinctions that don't stand up," he says. "We want clear categories. There's no reason evil would not be interested in someone who is already disturbed.

"It's not always one or the other. More often it's a combination."

Father Mike says a good deliverance team does a lot of teaching about the faith. He says God is not interested in delivering people so they can continue sinning, but so that they might serve him.

"You can't continue to sleep around, and do drugs," he said.

"There's quite a bit of teaching. We have to teach the faith. Many have not learned about the faith."

Some people want to hold onto their sin. They can't be helped.

Father Mike once counselled a woman who hated her husband. He told her she would have to forgive him if she was to be free.

"Oh no, I couldn't do that," she said, with a chilling smile. "That is all I have to live on."

"She got up and left and I have never felt so much in the presence of evil."

After the prayer team would interview a person to discern where the problem areas lay and what needed healing, the team members would hold a crucifix in front of the person and begin to pray and address the spirits.

Cross = truth
They would tell the person to look at the crucifix, but when the evil spirits were being addressed, the person's head might fall to the side.

"Evil spirits will not look at a crucifix," Father Mike says. "It symbolizes defeat.

"Symbols have a certain life. They represent the truth."

Terrorized eyes

"We would see absolute terror in the eyes of people when addressing spirits.

"We'd see their heads go sideways. We would continue to do that and be praying. We'd keep doing it until we knew the stuff was gone."

The prayer sessions would take sometimes an hour, sometimes five. When they would encounter a roadblock, the team would go into the church and pray, asking God what to do next.

In most cases, the person prayed for felt dramatic effects, and felt "something real." "In some cases, the changes were visible. They no longer looked the same."

Father Mike says they told some who'd been prayed for that they might continue to hear voices afterwards, but now the voices were "on the outside" and not on the inside.

"They are liars. Don't listen to them. They're trying to frighten you," Father Mike would tell them.

Each case was different, though, so no set deliverance pattern developed. He found the work "rewarding, but exhausting."

http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2005/1031/devil103105.shtml

 

[ramonmercado]

Week of December 19, 2005

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Calgary priest attended exorcism school in Rome

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By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News
Calgary

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Father Emanuel Buttigieg stresses he is not an exorcist. The Calgary priest, however, is the only Canadian priest who attended the recent Exorcism School in Rome, and possibly the only priest from all of North America sent by a bishop.

Buttigieg is the contact person for the 15-year-old Diocesan Spirit Discernment Commission, which includes another priest and medical experts, including a psychiatrist.

If someone presents a case of possible demonic possession to the diocesan Pastoral Centre, Buttigieg is contacted. He takes down the information and presents it to the commission's monthly meeting.

A subcommittee of two or three people then goes to meet the affected person face to face, then brings back a report to the commission to discern whether there is any demonic involvement.

Pastoral need
Calgary Bishop Fred Henry said he sent Buttigieg to Rome "to meet pastoral needs by providing the best of continuing education so that our commission would have more background and information to deal with referrals and general discernment as to appropriate pastoral response."

The commission was set up before Henry came to Calgary as bishop. Buttigieg, who has ministered for 40 years in the Calgary Diocese, attended the first part of the exorcism and the prayer of deliverance course offered by the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University and the Socioreligious Research and Information Group in October and November.

"The thrust of the course was how to identify a case of possible possession by the devil," he said.

The course explored exorcism from biblical, historical and theological perspectives, relying not only on Catholic theologians, such as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and various popes including John Paul II and Paul VI, but also eminent Protestant theologians such as Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann and Paul Tillich.

Buttigieg says that by the middle of the previous century, many theologians had "kissed the devil goodbye" and denied his existence.

Then Pope Paul VI shocked the world with his 1972 comment that "From some crevice, the smoke of Satan has entered into the temple of God."

"That created an upheaval in the Church," Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg says that taking rationalism too far might lead to the conclusion that the devil does not exist. Going too far in the opposite direction might lead to the conclusion that he is "present in every case.

"You can err. You have to be very careful," he said. "You are not to act unless you are certain."

The Calgary Commission has never been involved in an exorcism. However, Buttigieg says that sometimes he and members of the commission have prayed with troubled individuals.

"We pray for them. They seem to have calmed down. It's not an official exorcism," he said, noting the explicit permission of the bishop is necessary.

God's power
"It is God, through the priest, who performs the exorcism," he said. "Some people think it's the priest. Priests have no special powers."

Buttigieg points out that Jesus said that in his name, his disciples would cast out devils. "God works through the prayers of the priest," he said. "You have to keep in mind the devil is a creature of God like you and I. He is preternatural - above our nature - but not supernatural like God. His intelligence is superior to ours."

Some indications of demonic possession include negative reactions to a crucifix or to holy water, but most of all to the name of Jesus.

Other indications conclude speaking in a language the person has never been taught, grumblings and groanings, extreme physical violence, abnormal physical strength, blasphemous language, "calling the exorcist or priest all kinds of names, some not very complimentary either," he said.

http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2005/1219/exo ... 1905.shtml

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Judge Commits 8 Over Exorcism Killings

By Mark Stevenson

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A judge committed eight relatives to the psychiatric ward of a prison Thursday for the ritualistic slayings of two young family members that shocked Mexico with their brutality.

Officials said the parents, grandparents and aunts of a 7-month-old and 13-year-old hacked the baby to death and fatally stoned the teenager earlier this month after they became convinced the girls were demons or possessed by the devil.

Judge Ana Maria Raya Razo, who committed each family member for 40 years, told The Associated Press they had acknowledged killing the girls to save themselves from demons. The slayings were accompanied by prayers, candle-lighting and the sacrifice of farm animals, officials said.

A ninth suspect — an aunt described as the instigator of the slayings — was also sent to a psychiatric hospital after she became catatonic on the heels of her arrest. The killings were prompted by her visit to a faith healer, authorities said.

The family members were suffering "from a delusional psychotic state, with paranoia and hallucinations," Raya Razo said by telephone from Penjamo, the Guanajuato state township in remote western Mexico where the killings occurred.

"For example, they said they saw animals, demons in the girls," she said. "They said they had animals' faces, the faces of monkeys, that they had demons inside and had to be killed in order to for (the adults) to save themselves."

After being tipped off to the killings by an anonymous phone call, officers traveled on foot to the family's hamlet and found the baby girl mutilated and the body of the 13-year-old tied to a stake and battered to death.

About 10 children and adults — members of the extended family of about 30 — were found locked in a house, where they had been confined for three days, apparently because they also were suspected of being possessed, authorities said.

Goats, pigs and chickens had been sacrificed at the site, according to police reports.

The judge found that the children's parents took part in the killings but were not responsible for murder due to insanity. The teenager's grandfather and three aunts also were ordered committed.

The family members could be released before 40 years if psychiatric tests prove they have recovered, Raya Razo said.

/www.crimelibrary.com/news/ap/1205/1601_exorcism_killings.html

 

[ramonmercado]

Life for 'possessed baby'killer
A father has been jailed for life for the murder f his baby girl after he became convinced she was possessed.
Three-month-old Samira Ullah died from head injuries but also had cigarette burns, broken ribs and twisted wrists and ankles, the Old Bailey heard.

Sitab Ullah, a school advisor, had became paranoid from using heroin and crackcocaine, his wife told the court.

Ullah, 26, of Maida Vale, north-west Lond on, was found guilty of mu rder and will serve at least 20 years.


His wife Salma Begum admitted child neglect and was due to be sentenced on Thursday afternoon.

Ullah, who had denied m urder and child cruelty, was a community worker at North Westminster Community School, where he liaised with police.


[Ullah] started to think she was possessed by the ghost or a spirit.
Salma Begum in court


He was trusted enough to be allowed to sit in on interviews as an "appropriate adult" chaperoning Bangladeshi youngsters at police stations.

But following the death of his father, Ullah turned to drugs and began to believe his daughter was possessed by spirits and was not his child.

Speaking from behind a screen Begum told the court: "He was saying he was not hurting her, he was hurting the thing inside her."

Samira had been born prematurely and spent the first month of her life in hospital.

Social services then allowed her to return home despite Begum twice being temporarily rehoused away from Ullah by Westminster Council.

It was then that two months of "appallingviolence" began, said Richard Whittam, prosecuting.

In that time, a health visitor visited their home once but detected nothing untoward and the couple dodged two further appointments.

Jurors were told Begum once caught her husband trying to strangle the girl and said that on the day Samira died, 16 October 2004, he had shaken her and then gone out for chicken and chips.


She was defenceless and particularly vulnerable - she could not articulate to anyone how she felt, except for crying
Judge Stephen Kramer

Samira who weighed just 8lbs was found in Ullah's arms in a blood-splattered bedroom.

A pathologist said her brain injury caused by her skull being smashed into a hard surface, possibly a wall, was the worst he had seen.

Later they tried to feed the baby but she did not respond.

Judge Stephen Kramer told him: "You abused your role as a father.

"She was defenceless and particularly vulnerable. She could not articulate to anyone how she felt, except for crying."

Outside court, Det Sgt Patrick Barnes said: "In 26 years as a detective, this is the worst case of systematictorture I have seen.

"It is the worst case the Metropolitan Police has had since Victoria Climbie."


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/e ... 552298.stm

Published: 2005/12/22 12:56:01 GMT

© BBC MMV

 

[ramonmercado]

Exorcists live among us, but they prefer to keep a low profile

Niall McKenna
CanWest News Service


Sunday, January 08, 2006


The devil may be in the details, but Calgary's Catholic Diocese isn't sharing any of them.

Father Emanuel Buttigieg, a Calgary priest for 40 years, recently returned from the world's only formal school for exorcists. He was the sole Canadian among 120 priests at a month-long course at the Vatican.

Despite Buttigieg's new credentials, his church is downplaying his role.

"I'm not really interested in doing an in-depth interview on the subject of exorcism, as the devil likes to be an object of curiosity and sensationalism, and I don't want to give him any more attention than he deserves. Our focus is on Jesus, not the devil," Bishop Fred Henry said in a prepared statement.

Henry said he does not have an official exorcist, but designates one as the need arises, as determined by his Spirit Discerning Committee.

"I sent Father Emanuel ... to Rome for this special course so all the members of the committee might be apprised of the latest thinking and scholarship ... professional development."

Exorcism is the centuries-old practice of expelling demons or evil spirits that possess people. The practice has been quietly passed down through generations of priests and pastors, while getting the Hollywood treatment in films like 2005's The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Forms of exorcism are also found in religions such as Islam and Hinduism.

Pastor Ray Matheson of Calgary's First Alliance Church says he has participated in the exorcisms of four clear cases of possession -- cases where there was clearly a "different voice" coming from a person.

"It's not something we want to advertise, but it's something we have to deal with sometimes," Matheson said. He warns that care must be exercised in distinguishing between rare cases of possession and mental illness.

Anglican Father Douglas Skoyles was an exorcist or "spiritual garbage man" for 12 years, treating three or four cases of possession yearly.

"You tell it where to go, you bind it there in the name of Jesus Christ, and then you go home and drink your tea," said Skoyles.

"The worst part is that people get caught up in the drama of it all, as if it depends on their personal holiness rather than the authority of Christ."

Skoyles said there are "reliable tests" for diagnosing demonic possession, but he refuses to discuss them.

The Vatican updated its 1614 manual on exorcism, Of Exorcisms and Certain Supplications, in 1999. It can be bought online for about $20 US.

"I think that there's a place for exorcists," said Ernest McCullough, who teaches philosophy at St. Mary's University College in Calgary.

"You do have scriptural reasons for believing in both angelic beings and diabolical beings."

McCullough said he agrees with Henry in downplaying the role of exorcism in the modern church.

"The real focus in faith should be living a virtuous life," he said. "The more you can ascribe these events to outside forces, the less responsible we are."

Possession is often a favoured explanation for mental illness.

Dr. Harold Koenig, co-director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University, said he's had mentally ill patients who thought the devil controlled them.

Nevertheless, he said exorcism can be an effective treatment, provided the patient believes in it.

"When you have a very powerful ritual in the context of belief, there is no telling what kinds of transformations can take place," Koenig said.

"Belief is a very powerful factor in physical and emotional healing."

There are no figures available on how many qualified exorcists there are in Canada. However, McCullough suspects most Catholic dioceses have someone with some level of training. He added that demonic possession is so rare that exorcists should only be called when absolutely necessary.

"Scientists have enough evidence of misuse of (exorcism)," McCullough said.

© The Edmonton Journal 2006
Exorcists

 

[ramonmercado]

‘Pray for peace’

ADJUMANI — The retired bishop of Torit Diocese in southern Sudan, Paride Taban, has said called for special prayer with fasting to exorcise demons from LRA leader Joseph Kony and his top commanders so that they can come out of the bush. He was addressing Christians at a peace prayer at Sacred Heart Catholic parish on Wednesday.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/475094

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Article published Saturday, February 11, 2006

Pastor feels called to fight demons

Globe-trotting minister has performed 6,000 exorcisms in 20 years



By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR

The Rev. Bob Larson has been kicked, bruised, choked, and spit upon. His ribs have been broken, he has been scratched and bitten, and he's received death threats.

But Mr. Larson has not been deterred from his calling, which is casting out demons and helping people get back on the road to healing.

The 61-year-old minister, who was in Toledo this week for a "Spiritual Freedom Conference," said he has performed more than 6,000 exorcisms in 90 countries over the last 20 years.

"I am 'The Exorcist,' " he says frankly, his coal-dark eyes unflinching.

In an interview Tuesday afternoon at the Clarion Westgate Hotel, where he was the guest preacher at that evening's service for Oasis Christian Fellowship, Mr. Larson said he discovered his gift for exorcism about 20 years ago.

"The way I got started, people would come up to me for help and would be talking about their problems, and in the middle of the conversation, a voice would take over that was not them, and it would talk to me," Mr. Larson said. "People were being drawn to me, and I realized this was my calling from God. And I jumped in with both feet."

Mr. Larson said most people - including ministers - have the wrong impression of fallen angels and exorcisms, partly because of the "rather bizarre picture" portrayed in Hollywood and because of a general lack of understanding of the supernatural.

"The church is to blame for failing to embrace, recognize, and allow exorcisms to take place," said Mr. Larson, ordained by a nondenominational Christian church.

Generally speaking, Protestant churches avoid dealing with issues of demon possession and oppression, he said, but the Roman Catholic Church trains clergy on ways to perform exorcisms.

In December, Mr. Larson met at the Vatican with the Rev. Gabriele Amorth, the Catholic Church's foremost expert on exorcism. According to Mr. Larson, Father Amorth told him: "We are doing the same mission for our Lord Jesus Christ."

The Rev. James Bacik, Catholic theologian and pastor of Toledo's Corpus Christi University Parish, said "the biblical background for exorcism is Jesus, who functions as an exorcist, especially in the Gospel of Mark where he casts out unclean spirits and liberates people from the domination of demonic forces."

It is significant, Father Bacik added, that "Jesus is more powerful than any of the demons."

The Catholic Church recognizes two types of exorcism. One is performed at every baptism when the priest recognizes the power of Satan, anoints the person with oil, and prays for protection over the power of evil. The second is the kind that Mr. Larson typically conducts, casting evil spirits out of a person. But the person must first undergo physical and psychological tests before a priest will perform the rite of exorcism, Father Bacik said.

Mr. Larson said the influence of demons varies according to location, with some parts of the United States and certain countries having more demonic activity than others.

"I've never had a problem finding demons in the Pacific Northwest, for example, because it has been such a non-church, non-religious area. Demons are more free to operate," he said. "Ironically, the other place is the Bible Belt. The devil is where he's not expected to be. It's what happens when people have too much religion and not enough spirituality."

There is a finite number of demons in the world because God created a set number of angels, he said. The evil spirits are those who followed Lucifer when he rebelled against God and were cast out of heaven.

But demons are becoming more active, Mr. Larson said, as seen in the increased incidents of violence, drug abuse, sexual abuse, and criminal behavior among Americans today.

"There has been exponential growth of demonic activity today than when I started 30 years ago," he said. "It's rampant."

When he is conducting a spiritual freedom service, Mr. Larson said he gets "in a zone" with God's anointing. He carries his Bible and uses it as a weapon against the demons.

Mr. Larson, whose motto is "DWJD: Do What Jesus Did," has studied Jesus' examples in the Bible, which is why he always asks the demon its name.

That's what Jesus did in Mark 5:9, when he cast a "legion" of demons out of a Gerasene man.

"He did that because he was teaching us," Mr. Larson said. "He already knew the demon's name. He's God!"

It is essential to know what you're up against, he said, just as any military leader should know the size and power of the enemy forces.

There are demons of murder and violence, who torment people with such thoughts even if they never actually commit such acts, but the worst spirits the ones that play "head games," Mr. Larson said.

"There are demons with mental powers, and demons with physical powers. But the most dangerous demons are mind demons. They're mentally crafty. There's a spiritual strategy involved."

Most people who are demon possessed have a dissociative psychological condition in which their mind compartmentalizes their behavior, he said. In some cases, the person does not even know what they were doing while under demonic control.

"It's astounding how distinct the personalities can be," Mr. Larson said.

Mr. Larson has spent the last six years setting up teams around the country who can perform exorcisms and spiritual healings. He has trained 100 teams thus far, including the Toledo team at Oasis Christian Fellowship led by the Rev. Louis C. Roy.

The Exorcist is looking to build a national training center in Phoenix at a cost of around $1.2 million.

Mr. Larson said he feels blessed to be doing what he is doing and "I would not trade places with anybody in the world."

"We're all getting shot at by the devil," he said. "I'm the guy who knows where the bullets are coming from."

More information on the Rev. Bob Larson is available from his Web site, www.boblarson.org. Oasis Ministries and Oasis Christian Fellowship meet Tuesdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 10:30 a.m. in the Clarion Westgate Hotel, 3536 Secor Rd. Information: 419-841-9028.

Source

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Thousands of child 'witches' turned on to the streets to starve

Kinshasa sects make fortunes from exorcisms

Richard Dowden in Kinshasa
Sunday February 12, 2006
The Observer

Naomi is 15 but looks 10. A horrible burn scar shrivels the skin across her chest and shoulder. She had a broken leg, now reset. But her face is calm; she speaks clearly. The physical scars are nothing compared with the trauma she has been through. She is one of the so-called child witches of Kinshasa, rejected by her family and community at six years old and left to survive on the streets.

Once she had four siblings and lived with her parents across the river in Brazzaville. Her father died and then her mother. She had to live with her grandfather and aunt, who did not want her. 'Grandfather become sick and my aunt accused me of being a witch. She said, "Why is everyone around sick? They are suffering because of you." Grandfather gave me special water to drink, but it made no difference.

'My aunt said I must leave. The neighbours beat me and burnt me. They said either you must admit to being a witch or we will kill you. There is no place for you here. I went to the church, but they gave me water to drink that made me sick. I said to neighbours, let me sleep somewhere, even in your toilet, but they refused. I was caught by some soldiers and they said, you are a witch - we saw you flying with birds. They said they were going to kill me, but I escaped.'

Naomi gives a smile as she recounts how she found another church which took her in and sent her to Kinshasa. She has ended up in a hostel run by War Child. She is lucky. Tens of thousands of children live in the cemeteries, markets and streets of Kinshasa feeding on rubbish, begging and stealing. Most are there because of witchcraft accusations - mostly from their own families. The phenomenon is spreading, with recent cases of child abuse motivated by the belief that the child is possessed by evil spirits, showing up in London, Paris and Amsterdam.

I found Nelphy Lelu, a lanky 14-year-old, in another Kinshasa hostel. He has British citizenship and until recently he went to New Rush Hall School in Hainault, north-east London, and speaks with a soft London accent. He dreamt a man in black was trying to kill him and told his mother, who took him to a church in Tottenham, where the pastor declared him to be a witch. His mother beat him and he was taken into care before his mother brought him to Kinshasa. There he was sent to his grandmother, where the beatings continued.

As Congolese society has disintegrated, undermined by the country's rulers and ravaged by Aids and poverty, the family has collapsed. Children have been the main victims, often accused of witchcraft when families suffer misfortunes.

'Thirty years ago this did not exist,' says Remy Mafu, the director of the Rejeer project for street children. 'Now it's a huge problem and difficult to know how to deal with it.'

He estimates there are between 25,000 and 50,000 children on the streets of Kinshasa, a city of seven million. Many - if not most - have been accused of witchcraft and rejected by their families. The roots lie in a distorted development of African culture. Witchcraft does not mean in Africa what it means in Europe. Traditionally in Congo, every community had mediums who communicated with spirits in the other world. These were usually older people, revered and respected. The spirits they communed with or were possessed by were usually neither good nor bad, simply powerful.

'In African culture, when something goes wrong, we ask the spirits to find the human cause,' Mafu explains. 'These days children are accused. They can be persuaded to accept it's their fault. They tell themselves "it is me, I am evil".'

Then there are the new fundamentalist Christian sects, of which there are thousands in Kinshasa. They make money out of identifying 'witches' and increasingly parents bring troublesome children to the pastors. 'It's a business,' says Mafu. 'For a fee of $5 or $10 they investigate the children and confirm they are possessed. For a further fee they take the child and exorcise them, often keeping them without food for days, beating and torturing them to chase out the devil.'

Children who do well in school can also be accused of witchcraft. The common charge is they have been seen flying or eating human flesh. Their confessions of killing and eating relatives are broadcast live on TV channels owned by evangelical churches. What once seemed aberrations from extremist sects now seem to be becoming commonplace.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/st ... 98,00.html

 

[ramonmercado]

Bumps in the night spook workers
Bumps in the night and other strange happenings are scaring workers at a Cumbria shipyard.
The BAE shipyard in Barrow has long had a reputation for being haunted.

But since modernisation work began eight months ago reports of unexplained pipe banging, machinery working itself and mysterious shadows have escalated.

Bosses are taking staff concerns seriously and have called in the services of a local vicar who will perform an exorcism.

Worker Alan Worsley said the mysterious happenings took many forms.

"The last thing was actually a crane moving when the driver had the controls by him and nobody was touching them.

'Workers terrified'

"Another lad was upstairs changing his overalls and a shadow or something went past him, but when he turned round there was nobody there."

He added that many workers were terrified.

"There are a couple of big guys, one of them a foreman, who won't go upstairs at night on their own."

Some say it's the spirit of a man who committed suicide at the plant many years ago or the return of an overtime-mad storeman who died of cancer.

BAE Systems said the well-being of employees was its prime concern and the site's industrial chaplain had been in to talk to the staff.

A local vicar will also come in to perform an exorcism.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/e ... 953552.stm

Published: 2006/04/28 10:07:27 GMT

© BBC MMVI

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Housewife complains of medium's 'sexorcisms'



May 3, 2006 - 12:33PM


A Malaysian housewife says a bogus spiritual medium duped her into having sex with him 51 times as the only way to exorcise her evil spirits.

The 41-year old woman, who sought the man's help after he claimed to be able to heal her from her numerous ailments, was allegedly told that she had many evil spirits in her, the Star daily reported today.

The medium, who claims to be the reincarnation of a God, allegedly hypnotised her into having sex with him a total of 51 times over a period of six months.

The victim was also told to pay up to 50 ringgit ($A17) for each "exorcism" session.

The woman's husband eventually discovered the sexual exorcism encounters and lodged a report with a local complaints bureau.

Source

 

[ramonmercado]

Daughter 'possessed by demons'
By Adnan Adil
BBC Urdu service, Lahore


Pakistani police have arrested a man accused of murdering his 22-year-old daughter because he said she was possessed by demons.
The incident took place on Thursday in the remote village of Dus Ale in Harappa district in Punjab province.

Police say the father, Jamal Arain, confessed to killing his daughter with a butcher's knife.

They say he also confessed to putting the body on a pyre, with the help of his sons, and setting it on fire.

'Charred to bone'

The men were arrested as news of the incident filtered out of the remote area.

Local police also recovered the body, '"which was charred to the bone" according to Falak Sher, the police official in charge.

Police say Mr Arain told them a "churail' (female demon) had possessed his daughter a few days ago and threatened to kill him and his sons.

The father said that on Thursday the churail attacked his daughter and he killed her before the demon could take full control of her body.

According to police, the father said his daughter's possession had stemmed from the time of her recent engagement.

He added that soon after her engagement she set her dowry on fire.

Every year hundreds of women are killed in Pakistan in disputes over their right to marry of their own will.

The culprits are usually family members and the motives stated for the murder are either outlandish or honour based.

If the culprits are family members, they often escape punishment as under Pakistan's Islamic laws, the victim's family has the right to forgive the culprits.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6162055.stm

 

[ramonmercado]

African children 'at risk of ritual abuse'

African children 'at risk of ritual abuse'
by Steven Shukor
BBC News London



A 10-year-old girl goes through "deliverance" in a London church
A cursory glance at the classified section of the ethnic press reveals a myriad of spiritual healers making some remarkable claims.

Considered "conduits of God" by some, they claim to be able help return a loved one, cure impotency and infertility, help advance your career and even make you wealthy.

One such spiritualist says he can cast away "evil influences and bad luck", another will break voodoo and black magic curses and several others offer exorcisms.

Concern has been growing about the impact on children of such ritual practices.

The issue hit the headlines with the grim discovery of a torso of a young boy in the Thames in September 2001.

Police believe the child, later named Adam, had been the victim of a west African-style ritual sacrifice.

How widespread is the problem? Academics estimate only 5% of crimes involving possession or witchcraft are actually reported.

Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (Afruca), a UK charity, is calling for tighter regulation of minority churches and faith organisations.

"Anybody can just come over and open a church and they don't have to show they're complying with child protection guidelines," said Afruca spokesman Million Joseph.

"We are concerned with some pastors who are not accountable to anybody and who have the means to manipulate their followers into believing their child is possessed."

These pastors are seen as conduits of God and they have enormous authority and control over church members

Amma Anane-Agyel
Tower Hamlets

Kingston Racial Equality Council (KREC), a voluntary organisation in south-west London, is undertaking research on the potential for child abuse in African evangelical churches.

"With issues such as demonic possession, you have to consider the impact of exorcism on a child both physically and mentally," said John Azah, KREC director.


"If you take a child to a church and force him or her to drink what is claimed to be holy water and physically beat the devil out of them - that's child abuse."

Mr Azah went undercover to approach an African pastor in the East End a few years ago, claiming his niece was possessed.

"His church was basically his living room," he said. "He claimed he could cure both of us with a potion which would cost £700."

The project, covering Kingston and Croydon, aims to identify these churches and work with them and social services to protect children.

"The aim of this project, which we hope will eventually be rolled out across London, is to find out how widespread ritual child abuse is and put systems in place to address it," he said.


'Conduits of God'

A BBC Newsnight investigation in February 2005 suggested only a third of London's local authorities were taking the issue seriously.

Since then, Tower Hamlets in east London has identified 60 churches in the borough where exorcisms might take place.



Adam is believed to have been brought to the UK for a ritual killing

"These pastors are seen as conduits of God and they have enormous authority and control over church members," said Amma Anane-Agyel, of the council's social services department.

"Our concern is that practices like exorcism may be harmful to the child, not just physically but emotionally as well, and affect their whole wellbeing," she said.

Ms Anane-Agyel manages the council's African family services which has set up a pastors' group bringing together church leaders and council representatives to discuss ritual practices.

We do not police the inside of people's homes and are increasingly reliant on vigilance within the community

Det Ch Supt Peter Spindler
"Rather than denigrating people's beliefs, we focus on the harm acts like exorcisms will have on the child.

"This approach is usually much more effective in persuading people not to resort to such practices."

However, the African Caribbean Evangelical Alliance, a non-regulatory body with 3,000 members, said exorcism was not inherently bad.

"If it's done biblically and children and adults are not harmed, then exorcisms are fine," said spokesman Katie Kirby.


In the past five years, 32 cases of crimes involving possession or witchcraft were in London out of 40 nationally, according to the Department for Education and Skills.

Det Ch Supt Peter Spindler, head of the Metropolitan Police's child abuse investigation unit, said academics estimate only 5% of the actual abuse taking place is reported.


Speaking at a child abuse conference in London in July, he said: "We do not police the inside of people's homes and are increasingly reliant on vigilance within the community."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 177001.stm

 

[ramonmercado]

I fear this is not for real. Nice idea though.

International - Event Notice
Saturday March 17 2007

excorcism
by Fr. Commandante - Church of Marx
White House

there will be a excorcism service
when the Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams will be trooping off into the White -House. to meet the Omen, George
a unknown cleric, Fr. Commandante Church of Marx has agreed to organise a excorist service.
which will include annoited oils from Libya and Cuba. which will keeps us opposed to such relation-ships with the omens terrorists.
a viedo will be shown to the audience at the excorcism service. with Adams and Bush dancing in a gay relation ship.

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/81043

 

[MrRING]

Rev. Brian Conner is a Baptist exorcist working out of the Good Shepard Institute:

http://goodshepherdinstitute.com/index.html

SPIRITUAL CLEANSING OF BUILDINGS AND SPACES

* Walk-thru visits of locations suspected of demonic presence.


* Cleansing cursed and demonically affected properties, using scripture, prayer, worship, sacraments and sacred symbols.


* Led by a team of trained associates, accompanied by lay helpers.

Wikipedia article on him

 

[rjmrjmrjm]

I suppose that is one of the good things about the catholic church. The fact that while technically any priest can perfrom an exorcism, there are designated exorcists in each diocese that are learned in psycology and so are expected to exercise some discrimination.

 

[MrRING]

I couldn't get a direct link, but there was a local news story done on exorcisms that folks here might enjoy:

THIS IS THE MAIN PAGE

It's almost at the bottom of the page, and the story reads thusly:

Exorcisms: Do You Believe?

Demonic possession and exorcism -- are they real? An Arizona minister who's coming to Georgia this fall says most murders and other acts of evil are committed by people possesed by demons.

 

[TheInspector]

My grandfather preformed an exorcism once.

 

[IvanVolle]

Texas high court rules exorcism protected by law
Jun 28

" FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- The Texas Supreme Court on Friday threw out a jury award over injuries a 17-year-old girl suffered in an exorcism conducted by members of her old church, ruling that the case unconstitutionally entangled the court in religious matters.

In a 6-3 decision, the justices found that a lower court erred when it said the Pleasant Glade Assembly of God's First Amendment rights regarding freedom of religion did not prevent the church from being held liable for mental distress triggered by a "hyper-spiritualistic environment."

Laura Schubert testified in 2002 that she was cut and bruised and later experienced hallucinations after the church members' actions in 1996, when she was 17. Schubert said she was pinned to the floor for hours and received carpet burns during the exorcism, the Austin American-Statesman reported. She also said the incident led her to mutilate herself and attempt suicide. She eventually sought psychiatric help.

But the church's attorneys had told jurors that her psychological problems were caused by traumatic events she witnessed with her missionary parents in Africa. The church contended she "freaked out" about following her father's life as a missionary and was acting out to gain attention.

The 2002 trial of the case never touched on the religious aspects, and a Tarrant County jury found the Colleyville church and its members liable for abusing and falsely imprisoning the girl. The jury awarded her $300,000, though the 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth later reduced the verdict to $188,000.

Justice David Medina wrote that finding the church liable "would have an unconstitutional 'chilling effect' by compelling the church to abandon core principles of its religious beliefs."

But Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, in a dissenting opinion, stated that the "sweeping immunity" is inconsistent with U.S. Supreme Court precedent and extends far beyond the Constitution's protections for religious conduct.

"The First Amendment guards religious liberty; it does not sanction intentional abuse in religion's name," Jefferson wrote.

After the 2002 verdict, Pleasant Glade merged with another congregation in Colleyville, a Fort Worth suburb.

A message left for the church's attorney Friday evening was not immediately returned, and calls to two numbers listed in Schubert's name went unanswered."

Article:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/ ... TE=DEFAULT

 

[joncfc]

regarding the exorcism vid on the news page?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j82LWgqSnKc&eurl=

was it real? ive not read the whole thread so apologies if this has been discussed before

cheers

 

[ProfessorF]

Woman in exorcism "acted like lion"

Published: 7:26PM Monday June 08, 2009
Source: NZPA
READ

ONE NewsJanet Moses

A Wainuiomata woman killed during a botched exorcism had been acting like a lion and speaking in "puzzles" after being possessed by spirits from a stolen statue, the High Court at Wellington has been told.

The Crown has finished presenting its five-week long case against the family of Janet Moses for the 22-year-old woman's October 2007 death.

Nine people, including five aunts and an uncle, were charged with manslaughter after water poured on to her face to lift a makutu, or curse, got into her lungs.

The video-taped police interview of the slain woman's aunt and co-accused, Angela Orupe, said her niece had been "fighting with her grandmother, acting like a lion and trying to claw her".

The makutu targeted her cousin, who took the statue, but affected Moses because she was weaker, Orupe said.

She described the lion as an "ugly statue", about 60cm high and "very, very old".

Two family members stole it from outside a Greytown pub after a drinking session.

Advertisement
After bringing the statue home, the family's children began getting sick and were unsettled, she said.

Following advice from a kaumatua in Porirua, the family drove in a hikoi, or convoy, to return the statue to the place it was stolen from.

Driving home after taking the statue back one of the cars in the hikoi got a puncture and had to pull over - violating the instruction the family had to leave and return to the grandmother's house together, she said.

That night, family members reported Moses speaking in "puzzles" and having a restless night, Orupe said.

"Things were coming out of her mouth - saying the same things - 'money', 'the funeral', 'the hits'. We couldn't get her to sleep."

She said Moses had spirits in her eyes that looked "like jellyfish - slimy little things".

In the ceremony, which lasted several days, the family had poured litres of water into the woman's eyes to lift the makutu, until she began convulsing.

Someone then put a spoon into her mouth to stop her biting her tongue, Orupe said.

Several of the whanau present attempted CPR.

"You honestly had to be there. To think this sort of thing could happen in this day and age," she told Detective Mike Philpott.

She questioned Philpott's assumption there was a "correct process" for exorcism, saying it was whatever her elders said it was.

Lawyers representing the nine accused called no witnesses.

The nine accused, who have all pleaded not guilty, are John Tahana Rawiri, 49, Georgina Aroha Rawiri, 50, Tanginoa Apanui, 42, Hall Jones Wharepapa, 46, Orupe, 36, Gaylene Tangiohororere Kepa, 44, Aroha Gwendoline Wharepapa, 48, Alfred Hughes Kepa, 48, and Glenys Lynette Wright, 52.

The crown will begin its closing address on Tuesday.

Source

A rich vein of stuff in that story.

 

[rynner2]

Chief exorcist says Devil is in Vatican
The Devil is lurking in the very heart of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican's chief exorcist claimed on Wednesday.
By Nick Squires in Rome
Published: 6:30AM GMT 11 Mar 2010

Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron.

He added that the assault on Pope Benedict XVI on Christmas Eve by a mentally unstable woman and the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries, were proof that the Anti-Christ was waging a war against the Holy See.

"The Devil resides in the Vatican and you can see the consequences," said Father Amorth, 85, who has been the Holy See's chief exorcist for 25 years.

"He can remain hidden, or speak in different languages, or even appear to be sympathetic. At times he makes fun of me. But I'm a man who is happy in his work."

While there was "resistance and mistrust" towards the concept of exorcism among some Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI has no such doubts, Father Amorth said. "His Holiness believes wholeheartedly in the practice of exorcism. He has encouraged and praised our work," he added.

The evil influence of Satan was evident in the highest ranks of the Catholic hierarchy, with "cardinals who do not believe in Jesus and bishops who are linked to the demon," Father Amorth said.

In a rare insight into the world of exorcism, the Italian priest told La Repubblica newspaper that the 1973 film The Exorcist gave a "substantially exact" impression of what it was like to be possessed by the Devil.

People possessed by evil sometimes had to be physically restrained by half a dozen people while they were exorcised. They would scream, utter blasphemies and spit out sharp objects, he said.

"From their mouths, anything can come out – pieces of iron as long as a finger, but also rose petals," said Father Amorth, who claims to have performed 70,000 exorcisms. "When the possessed dribble and slobber, and need cleaning up, I do that too. Seeing people vomit doesn't bother me. The exorcist has one principal duty - to free human beings from the fear of the Devil."

The attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II by a Turkish gunman in 1981 and recent revelations of "violence and paedophilia" committed by Catholic priests against children in their care was also the work of the Devil, said Father Amorth, who has written a book about his vocation, Memoirs of an Exorcist, which was published recently.

Father Amorth, who is the president of the Association of Exorcists and fought as a partisan during the war, has previously claimed that both Hitler and Stalin were possessed by the Devil.

In an interview with Vatican Radio in 2006, he said: "Of course the Devil exists and he can not only possess a single person but also groups and entire populations.

"I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler and Stalin did."

He also condemned the Harry Potter books, saying they were dangerous because they dabbled in the occult and failed to draw a clear distinction between "the Satanic art" of black magic and benevolent white magic.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... tican.html

 

[rynner2]

Polish exorcists gather in Warsaw
Polish exorcists are gathering in Warsaw for their national congress confident in the knowledge that their numbers are increasing as more and more Poles struggle with Satanic possession.
By Matthew Day in Warsaw 4:19PM GMT 12 Nov 2010

Since 1999 the number of Polish exorcists has surged from 30 to over a 100, despite the influence of the Catholic Church waning in an increasingly secular Poland.

Exorcists attribute the increase in their numbers to growing scepticism in psychology in the wider Polish population, and people looking for spiritual reasons for mental disorders.

In recognition of modern science, however, exorcists now work in tandem with psychologists in order to distinguish between psychiatric problems and the work of the devil.

But while some cases of Satanic work are difficult to diagnose others manifest themselves in shocking circumstances explained exorcist Father Andrzej Grefkowicz.

"An indication of possession is that a person is unable to go into a church, or, if they do, they can feel faint or breathless," he said.

"Sometimes if they enter a church they are screaming, shouting and throwing themselves on the ground."

The national congress comes as part of a policy by Poland's Catholic Church to lift the veil on what was once a secretive practice. Frustrated by the Hollywood image of cross-wielding exorcists engaged in dramatic conflicts with demons the Church intends to show the complicated and often more mundane world of exorcism.

Father Grefkowicz stressed that the most of the time exorcism required quiet prayer.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... arsaw.html

 

[sherbetbizarre]

Exorcists wanted: apply to Catholic Church

Wanted: a few good men to cast out devils.

Overwhelmed with requests for exorcists, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops are holding a special training workshop in Baltimore this weekend to teach clerics the esoteric rite, the Catholic News Service reported.

The church has signed up 56 bishops and 66 priests for the two-day workshop that began on Friday, seeking to boost the small group of just five or six American exorcists that the church currently has on its books.

"There's this small group of priests who say they get requests from all over the continental U.S.," Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, was quoted as saying.

"Actually, each diocese should have its own" exorcist, he added.

Paprocki did not say why there was increased demand for exorcisms, which he noted were rarely performed.

While solemnly regarded by the Catholic Church, exorcism is a staple of Hollywood fright films -- most notably the 1973 film "The Exorcist" -- and regarded by many as superstition that lends a chill frisson to festivals like Halloween.

Catholic Church law stipulates that only properly trained priests can perform the rite -- and then only with the permission of their bishops.

Possible signs of demonic possession include scratching, cutting, biting of the skin; profound displays of strength; and a strong or violent reaction to holy water.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_romancatholic_exorcists

 

[rynner2]

Still overwhelmed...

Surge in Satanism sparks rise in demand for exorcists, says Catholic Church
A surge in Satanism fuelled by the internet has led to a sharp rise in the demand for exorcists, the Roman Catholic Church has warned.
By Nick Squires, in Rome 2:02PM BST 30 Mar 2011

The web has made it easier than ever before to access information on Devil-worshipping and the occult, experts said.
Exorcism is the subject of a six-day conference being held this week at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome, which is under the Vatican's authority.
"The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism," said Carlo Climati, a member of the university who specialises in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism.
"In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism. The conference is not about how to become an exorcist. It's to share information about exorcism, Satanism and sects. It's to give help to families and priests. There is a particular risk for young people who are in difficulties or who are emotionally fragile," said Mr Climati.

The object of seminars was to scrutinise the phenomenon of Satanism with "seriousness and scientific rigour", avoiding a "superficial or sensational approach", he said.

The conference in Rome has brought together more than 60 Catholic clergy as well as doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers and youth workers to discuss how to combat the dangers of Devil-worship.
Organisers say the rise of Satanism has been dangerously underestimated in recent years.
"There's been a revival," said Gabriele Nanni, a former exorcist and another speaker at the course.

In theory, any priest can perform an exorcism – a rite involving prayers to drive the Devil out of the person said to be possessed.
But Vatican officials said three years ago that parish priests should call in professional exorcists if they suspect one of their parishioners needs purging of evil.

An exorcist should be called when "the moral certainty has been reached that the person is possessed", said Father Nanni, a member of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
That could be indicated by radical and disturbing changes in the person's behaviour and voice, or an ability to garble in foreign languages or nonsensical gibberish.

While the number of genuine cases of possession by the Devil remained relatively small, "we must be on guard because occult and Satanist practices are spreading a great deal, in part with the help of the internet and new technologies that make it easier to access these rituals," he said.

The Vatican's chief exorcist claimed last year that the Devil lurked in the Vatican, the very heart of the Catholic Church.
Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron, scream, dribble and slobber, utter blasphemies and have to be physically restrained.

He claimed that the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries, were proof that the anti-Christ was waging a war against the Holy See. He said Pope Benedict XVI believed "wholeheartedly" in the practice of exorcism.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religio ... hurch.html

 

[rynner2]

'Harry Potter and yoga are evil', says Catholic Church exorcist
For most people it is a way of toning the limbs and soothing the stresses of everyday life, but the Catholic Church’s best-known exorcist says yoga is evil. By Nick Squires, Rome
2:31PM GMT 25 Nov 2011

Father Gabriele Amorth, who for years was the Vatican’s chief exorcist and claims to have cleansed hundreds of people of evil spirits, said yoga is Satanic because it leads to a worship of Hinduism and “all eastern religions are based on a false belief in reincarnation”.

Reading JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books is no less dangerous, said the 86-year-old priest, who is the honorary president for life of the International Association of Exorcists, which he founded in 1990, and whose favourite film is the 1973 horror classic, The Exorcist.

The Harry Potter books, which have sold millions of copies worldwide, “seem innocuous” but in fact encourage children to believe in black magic and wizardry, Father Amorth said.

“Practising yoga is Satanic, it leads to evil just like reading Harry Potter,” he told a film festival in Umbria this week, where he was invited to introduce The Rite, a film about exorcism starring Sir Anthony Hopkins as a Jesuit priest.

“In Harry Potter the Devil acts in a crafty and covert manner, under the guise of extraordinary powers, magic spells and curses,” said the priest, who in 1986 was appointed the chief exorcist for the Diocese of Rome.

“Satan is always hidden and what he most wants is for us not to believe in his existence. He studies every one of us and our tendencies towards good and evil, and then he offers temptations.” Science was incapable of explaining evil, said Father Amorth, who has written two books on his experiences as an exorcist. “It’s not worth a jot. The scientist simply explores what God has already created.” His views may seem extreme, but in fact reflect previous warnings by Pope Benedict XVI, when as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger he was the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s enforcer of doctrinal orthodoxy.

In 1999, six years before he succeeded John Paul II as Pope, he issued a document which warned Roman Catholics of the dangers of yoga, Zen, transcendental meditation and other 'eastern’ practises.
They could “degenerate into a cult of the body” that debases Christian prayer, the document said.
Yoga poses could create a feeling of well-being in the body but it was erroneous to confuse that with “the authentic consolations of the Holy Spirit,” the document said.

Italian yoga schools said Father Amorth’s criticism was absurd.
“It’s an accusation that has nothing to do with reality,” Vanda Vanni, the founder of the Mediterranean Yoga Association, told Adnkronos, an Italian news agency.
“It’s a theory — if one can call it a theory — that is totally without foundation. Yoga is not a religion or a spiritual practise. It doesn’t have even the slightest connection with Satanism or Satanic sects.” Giorgio Furlan, the founder of the Yoga Academy of Rome, said yoga had nothing to do with religion, “least of all Satanism.” “Whoever says that shows that they know absolutely nothing about yoga,” he said.

Father Amorth has previously said that people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron and have such superhuman strength that even children have to be held down by up to four people.

He has also claimed that the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Catholic Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries was proof that the Anti-Christ is waging a war against the Holy See.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/harr ... rcist.html

 

[Mythopoeika]

My own Mum shares this opinion of yoga and Harry Potter.