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The Exorcism Thread

I have the breath of Satan. Must clean my teeth.
 
This has already been posted in the RIP thread but .. RIP, William Peter Blatty, 89, author of The Exorcist.
 
Chilling video shows young couple writhing on the floor 'possessed by demons' as family drag them to a church for exorcism
  • 18-year-old boy and his 16-year-old girlfriend throw themselves to the ground
  • Their family claimed the couple were possessed by demons and needed help
  • They were taken to a church in Viru, Peru where parents called for an exorcism
  • Last year a priest warned of a demon that seeks out young couples and families


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ed-demons-dragged-exorcism.html#ixzz4WIyu5lYE

Vid at link.
 
After performing 6,000 exorcisms, this priest says the devil fears him

Mexico City, Mexico, Jan 19, 2017 / 04:22 pm (CNA).- Fr. Francisco Lopez Sedano is an 80-year-old Mexican exorcist. In the past 40 years of service, he has conducted at least 6,000 exorcisms.

And, he says, the devil is afraid of him.

Fr. Lopez told the newspaper Hoy Los Angeles (Los Angeles Today) that when the devil speaks to him through possessed people, he responds, “I am nobody, but I come from Christ, your Lord and God and you leave right now – I command you in His name that you go. Out!”

Fr. Lopez is the national coordinator emeritus of exorcism for the Archdiocese of Mexico, and he belongs to the order of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. Now, he continues his ministry in the Parish of the Holy Cross in Mexico City.

During the interview, the priest highlighted four things that he learned during his years as an exorcist.

First, he emphasized, the devil is a person and not a thing. He noted that Jesus confronted the devil many times and spoke to him. When speaking with a demon, “one isn’t talking with a thing, one is talking with a person.”

The evil one, he added, wants “to separate us from God, to frighten us, to threaten us, to make us tremble.”

“He brings us laziness, fatigue, sleepiness, distrust, desperation, hate; everything negative.”

Second, Fr. Lopez noted, the devil enters into persons because they allow him to do so.

“He can’t enter us if we do not open doors,” the priest said. “Because of this, God prohibits the practice of magic, superstition, witchcraft, sorcery, divination, consulting the dead and spirits and astrology. These are the seven lands of lies and deceit.”

“That the stars influence our life is the biggest lie. They are millions of kilometers away! They are bodies formed by metals and gasses – how can they influence us? It’s the same with magic, which attributes to objects a power that they don’t have. To carry a horseshoe because it’s going to give me good luck – it’s a lie.” ...

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/n...s-this-priest-says-the-devil-fears-him-13101/
 
Italian Documentary Explores Real-Life, Contemporary Exorcisms
10:36 PM PST 1/31/2017 by Ariston Anderson

Federica Di Giacomo explores how exorcists in the Catholic Church operate today in her award-winning film 'Libera Nos.'

The topic of exorcism has long fascinated Hollywood. From early horror movies and TV shows, the genre has received a new wave of contemporary fans with new shows including Outcast and The Exorcist revival. But the often gory, horror genre is nothing like the real-life practice of exorcism that has been around for centuries in the Catholic Church.

Federica Di Giacomo explores real-life exorcisms in her documentary Libera Nos in a small Sicilian town where every day Franciscan Father Cataldo Migliazzo has dozens of people claiming demonic possession, lining up to be healed inside the local church. The film explores the exhausting work of the local priests who are called on to be healers. It delves deep into the growing phenomenon of why more and more priests are needed to fulfill the church’s growing exorcist needs.

The documentary took her three years to make, and she was rewarded with the Venice Horizons Golden Lion for best film last year. THR spoke with Di Giacomo about what interested her in the topic and why she sees the phenomenon of this particular type of healing growing throughout the world.

And how did you come upon this story?

I was living in Sicily and at the time I read in the news about the need to educate exorcist priests there. I was interested in the psychology of everyday life. So it sounded to me quite interesting and also quite absurd. Because how can you teach someone how to deal with the devil? So from this point I began the research and I met a lot, a lot of exorcist priests in Sicily.

We tried to understand what was going on. So we talked to them and they told us that the phenomenon wasn’t something of the past, but was an increasing phenomenon. There were a lot of people that felt themselves to be possessed, so they asked the priest and the church to be delivered. And so the church teaches these educational courses to be prepared. I’m not Catholic, so I was interested in why people go there, and how can they feel the symptoms.

It was a kind of key metaphor to enter in the contemporary question about illness, about the border between psychic and spiritual illness. And it was also about the obsessive search for a healer. ...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...plores-real-life-exorcisms-modern-life-970829
 
Pope Francis on Friday advised priests who hear troubled confessions from parishioners to not hesitate to call on the services of an exorcist.

A good confessor has to be very discerning, particularly when he has to deal with "real spiritual disorders," the 80-year-old pontiff told priests at a Vatican training seminar on the art of hearing believers recount their sins.

Disorders could have their roots in all manner of circumstances, including supernatural ones, he suggested.

In such circumstances the confessor "must not hesitate to refer to exorcists... chosen with great care and prudence."

It is not the first time the pope has talked about exorcising demons from a believer's person, and he generally refers more frequently than his predecessors to the devil, characterising him as a physical presence in this world.

Francis has described jihadists who stabbed a French priest to death as satanic and the acts of priests who sexually abuse children as akin to participating in a satanic mass. ...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pope-tells-priests-to-call-in-exorcists-when-needed/ar-BByhXvg
 
An Italian man has been granted a divorce after claiming that his wife was "possessed by the devil".
The woman had exhibited "inexplicable behaviour" since 2007, including fits, stiffening, and other "unusual phenomena", a Milan court heard. Her husband attributed the episodes to "demonic possession".

Her sister, as well as a priest and a Capuchin monk confirmed the strange behaviour, testifying that the woman - a devout Catholic - had at one point knocked over a church pew, hurling it towards the altar using just one hand.

Witnesses even claimed to have seen her levitate, before falling to the ground.

The Milan court tribunal acknowledged that the woman was "clearly agitated" but said she "did not act knowingly", according to Il Corriere della Sera daily.

The judge ruled that the incidents couldn't be attributed to an illness, since the woman was judged healthy following by doctors and psychiatrists. Several exorcists had also attempted to cure her over the years, but to no avail. ...

https://www.thelocal.it/20170410/italian-man-granted-divorce-after-claiming-wife-possessed-by-devil
 
u
ramonmercado said:
An Italian man has been granted a divorce after claiming that his wife was "possessed by the devil".
The woman had exhibited "inexplicable behaviour" since 2007, including fits, stiffening, and other "unusual phenomena", a Milan court heard. Her husband attributed the episodes to "demonic possession".

Her sister, as well as a priest and a Capuchin monk confirmed the strange behaviour, testifying that the woman - a devout Catholic - had at one point knocked over a church pew, hurling it towards the altar using just one hand.

Witnesses even claimed to have seen her levitate, before falling to the ground.

The Milan court tribunal acknowledged that the woman was "clearly agitated" but said she "did not act knowingly", according to Il Corriere della Sera daily.

The judge ruled that the incidents couldn't be attributed to an illness, since the woman was judged healthy following by doctors and psychiatrists. Several exorcists had also attempted to cure her over the years, but to no avail. ...
Click to expand...

Very Crazy stuff
 
Why the devil hates Mary – especially during exorcisms

Mexico City, Mexico, Apr 28, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Italian priest Sante Babolin said that Satan is behind several recent attacks in various parts of the world against the Virgin Mary, noting that she is a powerful advocate for him during exorcisms.

“In my experience – so far I have performed 2,300 rites of exorcism – I can say that the invocation of the Most Holy Virgin Mary often provokes significant reactions in the person being exorcized,” he told Mexican weekly Desde la Fe.

Fr. Babolin, who also taught at the Gregorian University in Rome, said that “in face of the failure of the onslaught by non-believers, now, in order to offend and confound the Catholic people, the Virgin Mary, whom the devil hates, is being attacked.”

Desde la Fe noted the recent events of the Spanish drag queen Borja Casillas, who masqueraded as the Virgin Mary and mocked her in a performance, as well as a woman who dressed up as the Virgin Mary and simulated an abortion during a protest in Argentina.

The Italian exorcist said that “as proof of this hatred” of the devil toward the Mother of God, “while I was insistently invoking the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the devil answered me: 'I can't stand That One (Mary) any more and neither can I stand you any more.'”

Fr. Babolin also noted that “the Second Vatican Council declares that Mary, daughter of Adam, in accepting the divine message, became the Mother of Jesus, and embracing with her whole heart and without the hindrance of any sin the saving will of God, consecrated herself totally, as the servant of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son.” ...

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/why-the-devil-hates-mary-especially-during-exorcisms-93682/
 
A mentally ill man was locked in a cage for more than three decades by his parents who thought he was possessed by a ghost.

His parents didn't understand his mental health condition and even tried an exorcism to 'release the evil spirit from him'.

But when he returned after the procedure they found he was acting strangely and "reluctantly" decided to lock him away. He was last let out for exercise several years ago.

The 39-year-old was recently filmed by concerned neighbours with his hand grasping through the bars of his cage.

Concerned neighbours sent the footage to medical professionals, who then arranged for him to be freed.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/man-locked-cage-30-years-10333062

Vid at link.
 
Exorcist Warns Witches that Casting Spells Will Come Back to Haunt Them

If you pray, stay away from the occult, go to Mass and have faith in God, you will be protected. One good confession is worth a hundred exorcisms.

“What is it you need?” Father Patrick asked when he returned my call.

Father Patrick (not his real name) is a parish priest who has been a diocesan exorcist for 7 years. He seems to be busy from morning to night so like many of our interviews, he squeezed me in on his way to an appointment.

“I was hoping for your comments about a trend among young adult feminists to use witchcraft and cast spells,” I explained.

“Feminists? That’s never easy to talk about because there are all different types, but I can tell you that casting spells is malicious. You are trying to control something. And what are the powers being called on? It’s not Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Anything called on is going to be tainted.”

Aside from being tainted, Father Patrick had dire warnings for anyone casting spells.

Modern Day Witches

I had called Father Patrick after seeing an article about modern-day witches. The Daily Beast reported on the trend for crystal-loving, spell-casting feminists to openly practice witchcraft in hopes of making their wishes come true. It seems, that this is the season of the witch. ...

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/arms...t-casting-spells-will-come-back-to-haunt-them
 
Privatised Exorcisms: Is this the true entrepreneurial spirit?

Why exorcisms are on the rise in France
As the church loses interest, private enterprise has taken its place
Jul 31st 2017 by A.R. | PARIS

THE exorcist, Philippe Moscato, walks from room to room in a large Paris flat, sprinkling blessed water and offering incantations. “Spirits away!”, he calls out, telling pests their attacks will, from now on, be futile. He informs the homeowner the air will improve after his work is done, with the entire apartment block likely to benefit. For the ritual, which lasts an hour, Mr Moscato pockets €155 ($182). He says he despooks property in Paris a few times each week and roughly once a week conducts an exorcism of a person. He is not alone. Look online and a host of private exorcists, healers, mediums, kabbalists, shamans and energiticians offer similar services, for fees as high as €500 per ceremony. Some offer to help a business out of a bad patch, or to restore love to a failing relationship. Many help with supposed hauntings of properties. One self-declared exorcist near Paris says he earns as much a €12,000 a month (before tax) by working 15-hour days, including consultations by phone. The exorcism business is on the rise in France. Why?

According to the exorcists they thrive because customers get much-needed benefits from the rituals. Mr Moscato, for example, describes an “avalanche” of demand following prominent terrorist attacks in France late in 2015. He suggests three parts of France are particularly vulnerable to “black magic”—Paris, Lyon and the French Riviera, where local mafia are said to be active—and this can be countered by sufficiently strong exorcists. Alessandra Nucci, a writer on Catholic matters who attended a course run by the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) in Rome, argues “absolutely, there are more and more” private operators in Europe who charge for their services. She says they fill a vacuum left by priests reluctant to do the job: the “church has, for too long, neglected exorcisms, despite strong demand from the public”, she says. ...

http://www.economist.com/blogs/econ...7/economist-explains-21?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/
 
Looking forward to this.

Chilling reality of real-life exorcisms carried out daily by a priest dubbed 'The Dean of Exorcists'
An incredible new documentary has been filmed by the director of the horror classic The Exorcist who says he has always believed some people are blessed with the power to rid other of evil spirits

The programme has been filmed by the director of of horror cult classic The Exorcist who was invited to watch the Italian priest at work.

When William Friedkin shot The Exorcist in 1973 he had never actually seen an exorcism, though even at the time he believed in the power of the rite which is designed to evict demons or other evil spirits from a 'possessed' person.

Decades later, the American director came full circle when he was able to actually film one close up thanks to Father Gabriele Amorth, who regularly performed exorcisms for the Vatican's Rome Diocese.

The result is the unsettling documentary "The Devil ...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/chilling-reality-real-life-exorcisms-11121022
 
ramonmercado said:
An Italian man has been granted a divorce after claiming that his wife was "possessed by the devil".
The woman had exhibited "inexplicable behaviour" since 2007, including fits, stiffening, and other "unusual phenomena", a Milan court heard. Her husband attributed the episodes to "demonic possession".

Her sister, as well as a priest and a Capuchin monk confirmed the strange behaviour, testifying that the woman - a devout Catholic - had at one point knocked over a church pew, hurling it towards the altar using just one hand.

Witnesses even claimed to have seen her levitate, before falling to the ground.

The Milan court tribunal acknowledged that the woman was "clearly agitated" but said she "did not act knowingly", according to Il Corriere della Sera daily.

The judge ruled that the incidents couldn't be attributed to an illness, since the woman was judged healthy following by doctors and psychiatrists. Several exorcists had also attempted to cure her over the years, but to no avail. ...

https://www.thelocal.it/20170410/italian-man-granted-divorce-after-claiming-wife-possessed-by-devil
Click to expand...


This seems perfectly reasonable to me :)
 
Probably have to exorcise the church after this.

An Anglican church in London has apologized for allowing a Turkish fashion designer to use its altar as a runway for models who donned outfits with demonic symbolism, including inverted crosses and devil horns, for what was publicized as a satanic fashion show.

St Andrew's Church in Holborn was used by designer Dilara Findikoglu to flaunt her spring/summer 2018 collection as part of the fashion week, but the Diocese of London says it didn't know what it entailed.

"The parish of St Andrew's has always supported London Fashion Week. We took this booking in good faith and were not aware of the content or design before the show took place," a spokesperson said in a statement to the U.K.'s Premier news portal.

"This was obviously a mistake, and the content of this show does not reflect the Christian faith of the Church," the Diocese added. "We will be looking at our booking processes going forward to ensure this does not happen again."

It "glorified demon worship," Adrian Hilton from the Archbishop Cramner blog told Premier, and called the church's decision to host the event — that included tarot card imagery and models exposing their breasts — "bizarre" because it "glorifies Satan." ...

https://www.christiantoday.com/arti...hion.show.glorifying.demon.worship/114430.htm
 
The Morning Star is winning in Dublin.

Ireland’s most prominent exorcist has accused the church of abandoning its flock by failing to train priests in the religious practice of demon hunting.

In a special RTE Would You Believe documentary about evil, Fr Pat Collins, who is also a trained psychologist, claims he has experience in dealing with demonic spirits.

In the documentary, the cleric doesn’t rule out human explanations of evil but believes it’s naive to exclude the supernatural dimension.

He said he is appalled by the lack of training for exorcists in today’s Church.

“The Church is rightfully admitting its sinfulness in child sex abuse, that we did not defend children. Now it has all the safeguarding measures and that’s excellent," he said.

“But it appals me that we have no safeguarding from the evil spirits.

“I say that in the sense that we don’t train anybody to deal with these cases. Priests – it’s not that they don’t care – but they don’t know enough about it.”

http://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/dublin-priest-blasts-church-lack-13942889
 
The mother was the real demon.

OKLAHOMA CITY (TNS) — An Oklahoma City woman who told police she fatally beat her daughter while attempting to rid her of Satan was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder.

It took Oklahoma County jurors only 20 minutes to find Juanita Martinez Gomez, 51, guilty of killing Geneva Gomez, 33.

The jury then chose life in prison without the possibility of parole as punishment. Juanita Gomez showed no emotion during the trial.

“We think it was a just verdict. It was an incredibly heinous murder. The victim suffered quite a bit before her life was ended,” Assistant District Attorney Suzanne Lavenue told news reporters afterward. “The crime scene was horrific. It was obvious that there’d been an extensive struggle all over the house.”

Juanita Gomez told police she repeatedly punched her daughter and forced a crucifix and religious medallion down her throat because she was possessed by the devil, according to investigators. ...

http://www.examiner-enterprise.com/news/20180112/oklahoma-city-jurors-convict-exorcist-mother
 
Another Vatican course to battle the demons created by fortune tellers, tarot card readers etc.

In response to an unsettling increase in demand for exorcisms in Italy, the Vatican has announced plans for a new course to better train priests to perform the practice.

The week-long event to be held in April was detailed by Italian priest and exorcist Benigno Palilla in an interview with Vatican Radio.

According to Palilla, requests for exorcisms from the Church have skyrocketed in Italy over the last few years with experts estimating an astounding 500,000 such cases being reported.

Although the priest acknowledged that not all of these events are genuinely connected to an actual possession, he cautioned that the jaw-dropping number of exorcisms indicated that there is some sort of sinister surge happening.

As to what may be behind this spike, Palilla pointed to the popularity of fortune tellers, tarot card readers and other soothsaying mystics in Italy.

He warned that partaking in such 'sorcery' unwittingly "opens the door to the devil and possession."

Additionally, Palilla expressed concern that the whopping number of exorcism cases in the country has led to inexperienced priests being enlisted to perform the ritual.

https://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/vatican-increases-exorcism-training/
 
There was an Italian documentary on this subject out last year:

It's called Deliver Us, and is very revealing. Here's what it reveals: exorcisms don't bloody work. They're a meaningless ritual in the face of serious mental health issues where they are intended to replace science with superstition. Maybe the science isn't too solid, but it's a hell of a lot more stable than what was shown in that film. It would be farcical if it wasn't taken so seriously by some very ill people who are denying themselves proper care in favour of a big nothing. I don't imagine the fortune tellers are any better.
 
It's good money for the Church of Scientology though, with their scifi-exorcism "get rid of alien thetan ghosts stuck to you" spiel.
 
Exorcisms down under.

An Auckland priest tells Cherie Howie how and why he drives out demons.
Unlike the possessed teenage girl in 1970s blockbuster The Exorcist, heads don't spin and he's never seen green vomit.

But screaming, name calling, spitting, increased physical strength and dramatic vocal changes — that can be all in a day's work for a Catholic priest who has, for more than a decade, performed exorcisms on those he believes are possessed.

"[One thing that happens] is the voices change and people will speak in, for want of a better word, a demonic voice ... sometimes we ask demons to name themselves. It can be death, lust. The seven deadly sins are frequent visitors."

The Auckland diocese priest agreed to be interviewed about the ritual under the condition he wasn't identified.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11991110
 
ramonmercado said:
Looking forward to this.

Chilling reality of real-life exorcisms carried out daily by a priest dubbed 'The Dean of Exorcists'
An incredible new documentary has been filmed by the director of the horror classic The Exorcist who says he has always believed some people are blessed with the power to rid other of evil spirits
Click to expand...

Trailer
 
Christians should stick to exorcising those of their own faith.

These Occult Exorcists Say the Catholic Church Makes Demons Worse

If the person in need of an exorcism isn't a Christian, then why do you have to call a Catholic priest?

... Exorcism and the Catholic Church seem inseparable thanks to films like The Exorcist and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, as well as the church’s own proclamations of exclusivity. But in reality, the earliest evidence of exorcism predates Christianity by hundreds of years. Exorcists have been a part of religious practices worldwide for ages, including among the witches and satanists that the Church blames for the current demon infestation.

Put simply, exorcism is the expulsion of an unwanted force or energy from a person, place, or thing that is afflicted by that energy. In the extreme, a person who is possessed by such a force lacks self-control as a result of that possession. An exorcist is a person who specializes in casting out these entities. So if you or a loved one isn’t a linguist and starts quoting dead languages, stinking of sulfur, and levitating an exorcist could be helpful—alongside a shrink.

Theistic Satanist Shea Bilé was 17 when he conducted his first exorcism, mostly out of necessity. “Growing up there were spirits that attacked me, but I didn’t have the tools to protect myself. I was the victim of these things. This exorcism was the first time I fought back,” the 32-year-old told VICE. ...

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/...ts-say-the-catholic-church-makes-demons-worse




 
Some of them appear to be Cthuhluesque.

Exorcist reveals SHOCKING truth about what demons look like – and the humans they possess

AN EXORCIST has shattered notions of what demons really look like with a shocking insight that crushes beliefs held for centuries.

As the number of people seeking exorcism for demonic possessions witness a rise, they also revealed the kind of people demons possess.

Turning popular theories on its head, Len Walker, who claims to have been removing demons from the possessed for 15 years, says demons look nothing like humans.

Len, who calls herself a negative energy specialist, said people who can actually see the creatures are so rare, the truth about demons have barely been documented.

The exorcist says she was once possessed herself, which led her to working “in this dark strange area” and gave her an insight into the astral world, which very few can enter. ...

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/710206/exorcism-church-exorcist-demon-spirit

Vids at link.
 
ramonmercado said:
Some of them appear to be Cthuhluesque.

Exorcist reveals SHOCKING truth about what demons look like – and the humans they possess

AN EXORCIST has shattered notions of what demons really look like with a shocking insight that crushes beliefs held for centuries.

As the number of people seeking exorcism for demonic possessions witness a rise, they also revealed the kind of people demons possess.

Turning popular theories on its head, Len Walker, who claims to have been removing demons from the possessed for 15 years, says demons look nothing like humans.

Len, who calls herself a negative energy specialist, said people who can actually see the creatures are so rare, the truth about demons have barely been documented.

The exorcist says she was once possessed herself, which led her to working “in this dark strange area” and gave her an insight into the astral world, which very few can enter. ...

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/710206/exorcism-church-exorcist-demon-spirit

Vids at link.
Click to expand...

“It would be a good idea if you ask exorcists what a possessing demon looks like. Most will give you a description that one could find in a fantasy comic, the typical demon thing, that's nonsense. And right away you will know they are conmen.”

"Pay no attention to all the other psychic-astral-warrior-exorcists, they're all con artists!"

Besides, we already know what demons look like.

ca3c357bc85e9488009e923fc8d97126.jpg
 
A mother-of-five who works as a professional exorcist , claiming to expel demons from people's bodies to pay off her mortgage.
One session with Lizzy Rose from Melbourne, Australia, isn't cheap - and can reportedly cost up to $750 (£582).

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/meet-witch-who-works-professional-13186702

(Nice work if you can get it... and don't mind adding a little theatrics and flimflammery)
 
Exorcisms on the rise in the US - and how sexual abuse plays a part. It's - disturbing.

American Exorcism

Father Vincent Lampert, the official exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, told me in early October that he’d received 1,700 phone or email requests for exorcisms in 2018, by far the most he’s ever gotten in one year. Father Gary Thomas—a priest whose training as an exorcist in Rome was documented in The Rite, a book published in 2009 and made into a movie in 2011—said that he gets at least a dozen requests a week.

Nearly every Catholic exorcist I spoke with cited a history of abuse—in particular, sexual abuse—as a major doorway for demons. Thomas said that as many as 80 percent of the people who come to him seeking an exorcism are sexual-abuse survivors. According to these priests, sexual abuse is so traumatic that it creates a kind of “soul wound,” as Thomas put it, that makes a person more vulnerable to demons.
The exorcists—to be clear—aren’t saying sexual abuse torments people to such an extent that they come to believe they’re possessed; the exorcists contend that abuse fosters the conditions for actual demonic possession to take hold. But from a secular standpoint, the link to sexual abuse helps explain why someone might become convinced that he or she is being menaced by something sinister and overpowering.

The correlation with abuse struck me as eerie, given the scandals that have rocked the Church. But it doesn’t seem to answer the “why now?” question behind exorcism’s comeback; no evidence exists to suggest that child abuse has increased. The second doorway—an interest in the occult—might offer at least a partial explanation.
Most of the exorcists I interviewed said they believed that demonic possession was becoming more common—and they cited a resurgence in magic, divination, witchcraft, and attempts to communicate with the dead as a primary cause. According to Catholic teaching, engaging with the occult involves accessing parts of the spiritual realm that may be inhabited by demonic forces. “Those practices become the engine that allows the demon to come in,” Thomas said.
Click to expand...

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/catholic-exorcisms-on-the-rise/573943/
 
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