'Pope Francis effect' leads to exorcism boom - Telegraph

It is no wonder that the Satanic Panic is re-emerging.  Did it ever really go away?  It is back to the Dark Ages where we blame personal and social problems on the supernatural instead of effectively dealing with harsh reality.

A return to superstition and Scriptures aren’t helpful in a time where we need reason, human compassion and science-based treatments that actually work in the long run. It isn’t as easy to fix social problems and psychological issues so we blame the devil? Thanks, Pope Frank!

The “Pope Francis effect” has been credited with encouraging a resurgence in faith among rank-and-file Catholics but it has also had a more unexpected consequence – a boom in the demand for exorcisms.

The Argentinian pontiff’s fire-and-brimstone language and frequent references to the Devil have helped propel belief in Beelzebub back into the mainstream of the Catholic Church, where once it was an embarrassment.

Dioceses in the UK, Italy, Spain and elsewhere have noticed a dramatic increase in the number of people claiming to be possessed and have responded by training more priests in the dark arts of how to perform exorcisms.

A week-long exorcism conference, held this week at the Pontifical University of Regina Apostolorum in Rome and endorsed by the Vatican, is being attended by around 160 Catholic priests from around the world, who insist that demonic possession is very real.

"Pope Francis talks about the Devil all the time and that has certainly raised awareness about exorcisms," said Father Cesare Truqui, a Mexican priest trained as an exorcist. "But all Latin Americans have this sensibility – for them, the existence of the Devil is part of their faith."

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During the week-long course, there will be lectures by Catholic prelates on subjects such as “Occultism, black magic and Satanism”, “Angels and demons in Holy Scripture” and “Criminal Aspects of Satanism”.

Addressing the first day of the conference, Monsignor Luigi Neri, the archbishop of Ferrara in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, attributed the growing demand for exorcisms to atheism and consumerism.

Gesticulating and jabbing with his finger, the white-haired cleric said prayer was central to the fight against the Devil.

"Evil exists and poisons the human experience. It is a challenge and a provocation."

 'Pope Francis effect' leads to exorcism boom - Telegraph

Pope faces gut checks on anti-Christian persecution and the death penalty | Crux

Interesting how two different news sources present the same event.  So in this Vatican approved or not?

First, despite what you may hear, the course is not a “Vatican school” or “Vatican camp.”

It’s offered by the “Sacerdos Institute,” a program of priestly formation operated by the Legionaries, in partnership with a private Bologna-based foundation called the “Group of Socio-Religious Research and Information” that tracks New Age movements and the occult.

For a bit of context, the Roman calendar is always chock-full of seminars, conferences, mini-courses, etc., offered by orders, lay movements, private foundations, Catholic colleges, activist groups, and so on. Walk into any Roman hotel, any day of the week, and you’ll likely find at least one. Though organizers often try to play up their Vatican contacts, even inviting a Vatican official or two to speak, none of that makes these initiatives Vatican events.

The course on exorcism is a case in point. It carries a loose endorsement from the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy, and a couple of Vatican officials typically make presentations. This year the line-up includes Italian Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican’s court for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Catholic Church.

Yet nobody is required by the Vatican to attend, there’s no Vatican certification at the end, and one cannot assume that every word uttered represents the Vatican’s take on things.

Second, because the Rev. Gabriele Amorth’s name appears on the list of past speakers for the course, it’s a good bet that somebody will seek out the 90-year-old Italian priest for an interview this week on the current state of the Satan-fighting business.

When they do, Amorth likely will be identified as “the pope’s exorcist,” a designation that’s appeared so often in media reports over the years he probably should have it printed on business cards. The only problem is that it’s not true, and never has been.

Amorth is the most famous living exorcist in the Catholic Church. His 1994 memoir, published in English under the title An Exorcist Tells His Story, became an instant classic.

Amorth is adept at recounting possession stories that make your toes curl, so he has become an obligatory reference. For the record, he’s a priest in good standing, honorary president for life of the International Association of Exorcists, and since 1986 has been authorized as an exorcist by the Diocese of Rome. A member of the Pauline order, he worked out of a small office in the order’s headquarters in Rome, receiving people who sought his help 365 days a year.

Yet Amorth is not a Vatican official and does not perform any Vatican-licensed activity. In fact, there may be no one on the planet more critical of the Vatican’s approach to exorcism.

When the Vatican issued a revised version of the ritual for exorcism in 1999, Amorth loudly objected that the rules prevent exorcisms to counteract “evil spells,” such as curses or the evil eye, which he said account for 90 percent of the cases an exorcist faces. The new rules also stipulate that exorcisms should only be conducted when there is “certainty” of demonic possession, when Amorth insists that certainty can only be acquired by performing an exorcism.

In an interview with 30 Giorni magazine, Amorth bitterly complained that he had run into a “wall of refusal and disrespect” when he attempted to change the minds of Vatican officials, and said it was clear to him that the so-called experts who prepared the new ritual “don’t have the least idea of what an exorcism really is.”

To present Amorth as a “Vatican exorcist,” therefore, is not only inaccurate, but in some ways Amorth himself might take offense.

Pope faces gut checks on anti-Christian persecution and the death penalty | Crux

Practical help for the demon-possessed: Vatican rolls out new exorcism course :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

This month the Vatican will gather a wide range experts in the field of exorcism with the aim of shedding light on demonic possession from both theological and scientific perspectives.

The annual course, “Exorcism and Prayer of Liberation,” is designed for priests and lay persons interested in learning how to recognize a case of demonic possession when they see one – and what to do about it.

This year's session will run from April 13-18 at Rome's Regina Apostolorum University, and will feature interventions by a wide range of experts in the field of exorcism from priests – including practicing exorcists – medical professionals, psychologists, lawyers, and theologians. It's sponsored by the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy and organized by the Sacerdos Institute.

According to Breitbart News Network, one of the primary objectives of the course will be to help priests and lay people distinguish demonic possession from psychological or medical conditions.

The sessions will also examine a series of other related issues, including occult practices, Satanism, and nihilism among young people.

Practical help for the demon-possessed: Vatican rolls out new exorcism course :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Irony Is Dead – Catholics Demand Exorcism Because of Fears of Superstition » A Million Gods

An addendum of sorts, and an interesting point about pica is brought up,,,

Even the first murder in the Bible was a product of rage and jealousy. Of hard work being unrecognised and forsaken and the capricious nature of Jehovah lead Cain to murder Abel out of greed and anger. The other joke here is that evil never really existed. And it wasn’t Satan who caused evil to come into the world.

But man acquiring knowledge which gave him the capacity to see evil. Which means Evil Existed, We just never noticed it. In the same way that we see a pretty garden. Not a murder machine of weeds and pests. Evil is in the perspective. It is why devout jains sweep their path with feathers. Because to crush an ant is nothing to you, but a great evil to the ant.

That is a more thought out and measured and sensible approach to life than “It was magical beings that made me do it. That is a childish approach to morality. By claiming that evil came from a literal scape goat which could be yelled at. In this true social evils can never be fought effectively because rather than deal with causes, this attitude deals with splashing water on things and reciting incantations in Latin.

Irony Is Dead – Catholics Demand Exorcism Because of Fears of Superstition » A Million Gods

Decline of religious belief means we need more exorcists, say Catholics - Telegraph

The abandonment of religion “inevitably leads people to ask questions about the existence of evil and its origins”, he told Adnkronos, an Italian news agency.
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Ponder me this: why is asking a basic question about human existence a bad thing? The article speaks of the belief that there is a decline/abandonment of religious beliefs, Wouldn't it then be more pertinent to determine why people are leaving the church? What needs are not being met?

This continuation in a belief from a Bronze age culture (actually more of a Medieval world view) seems counterproductive. I'm not saying there is no evil in the world, but to perpetuate a belief in a scary being that has the appearance of power over "god's" creation diminishes the central tenet of the faith, the purpose of the deatha and resurrection of Christ.
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In the popular imagination, exorcisms evoke images of black-clad priests holding aloft silver crucifixes while trying to rid frothing, wild-eyed victims of Satanic possession.

The Church tries to play down the more lurid associations but at the same time insists that the Devil exists and must be fought on a daily basis.

“Exploring the theme of demonic possession does not mean causing general paranoia, but creating awareness of the existence of the Devil and of the possibility of possession,” Fr Truqui told Vatican Radio. “It happens rarely but you can fight it with God, with prayer, with Marian devotion.”
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Decline of religious belief means we need more exorcists, say Catholics - Telegraph