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Dec 29th, 2019
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The truth is a little less flashy ("exorcist squads"? I mean really! The press is making it out to be a "ghostbuster" style initiative...) but the fact that Papa Bene is committed to restoring a sense of spiritual battle that is upon the Church is refreshing. I just finished Cyprian Vagaggini, OSB's "Theological Dimension of the Liturgy". His emphasis on the role of the angelic realms in liturgy was enlightening! I also thought that this site was interesting... http://www.stmichaelgoc.org/calendarscripturalreadings/aboutangels.htmlas was this! http://cs-people.bu.edu/butta1/akathistarchangelmichael.htmHail, Michael great captain, with the hosts of heaven! Intercede for us! St. Michael the Archangel, ora pro nobis!God bless, Gordo http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...4969&in_page_id=1811&Satan=Santa Pope's exorcist squads will wage war on Satan
By NICK PISA - More by this author �
Last updated at 16:34pm on 29th December 2007
Satanism on the rise: Pope Benedict has unveiled plans to set up specialist exorcism squads
The Pope has ordered his bishops to set up exorcism squads to tackle the rise of Satanism.
Vatican chiefs are concerned at what they see as an increased interest in the occult.
They have introduced courses for priests to combat what they call the most extreme form of "Godlessness."
Each bishop is to be told to have in his diocese a number of priests trained to fight demonic possession.
The initiative was revealed by 82-year-old Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican "exorcistinchief," to the online Catholic news service Petrus.
"Thanks be to God, we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head-on," he said.
"Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist.
"Thankfully, Benedict XVI believes in the existence and danger of evil - going back to the time he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith." The CDF is the oldest Vatican department and was headed by Benedict from 1982, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, until he became Pope in 2005.
Father Amorth said that during his time at the department Benedict had not lost the chance to warn humanity of the risk from the Devil.
He said the Pope wants to restore a prayer seen as protection against evil that was traditionally recited at the end of Catholic Masses. The prayer, to St Michael the Archangel, was dropped in the 1960s by Pope John XXIII.
The 1973 film The Exorcist deals with the demonic possession of a young girl: Now the Pope wants specialist exorcism squads in every parish.
"The prayer is useful not only for priests but also for lay people in helping to fight demons," he said.
Father Paolo Scarafoni, who lectures on the Vatican's exorcism course, said interest in Satanism and the occult has grown as people lost faith with the church.
He added: "People suffer and think that turning to the Devil can help solve their problems. We are being bombarded by requests for exorcisms."
The Vatican is particularly concerned that young people are being exposed to the influence of Satanic sects through rock music and the Internet.
In theory, under the Catholic Church's Canon Law 1172, all priests can perform exorcisms. But in reality only a select few are assigned the task.
Under the law, practitioners must have "piety, knowledge, prudence, and integrity of life."
The rite of exorcism involves a series of gestures and prayers to invoke the power of God and stop the "demon" influencing its victim.
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This is most needed. Thank God for the spiritual awareness of Pope Benedict.
In Christ,
Alice
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Sorry if this is a stupid question, but... does the Orthodox Church have exorcists and a service of exorcism?
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Good stuff. While he is at it he can deal with other antichrist threats such as the US tobacco companies marketing drug addiction to children as young as 6 in third world countries.
A pack of cigarettes is as bad a drug as a hit of heroin. Second hand smoke exposure is the oppsite of what is in the chalace during liturgy.
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Sorry if this is a stupid question, but... does the Orthodox Church have exorcists and a service of exorcism? YES. But I will leave it to the learned to direct you further.
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Good stuff. While he is at it he can deal with other antichrist threats such as the US tobacco companies marketing drug addiction to children as young as 6 in third world countries.
A pack of cigarettes is as bad a drug as a hit of heroin. Second hand smoke exposure is the oppsite of what is in the chalace during liturgy. Steady on. None of us who smoke or have smoked are telling people how great or harmless it is. At the same time, I don't know of any smokers that have broken into homes to get cigarette money or lived on park benches like black-tar heroin addicts. I know that since the 90s the only true public sin that gets decried is smoking - smoking in movies will get it rated R, I can't recall that last time I saw it in prime time TV (maybe a villian or two?)... At the same time, there are a whole slew of behaviors Saint Paul is pretty specific about beint worse still for our spiritual health. Those get depicted with great celebration, relish and aplomb.
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Now the claim is that the Vatican is denying this. Click here for story [ upi.com] VATICAN CITY, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The Vatican is denying reports it plans to install more exorcists around the world so possessed people can get help quickly.
"Pope Benedict XVI has no intention of ordering local bishops to bring in garrisons of exorcists to fight demonic possession,'' Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told reporters in Rome Friday.
On Thursday, the Roman Catholic Web site Petrus said the pope planned to install more exorcists in every diocese next year and reintroduce a prayer during mass to St. Michael the Archangel, believed to be the prime protector against evil, The Telegraph in Britain reported Saturday.
Paolo Scarafoni, a priest at Vatican University who teaches how to recognize and expel Satan, said exorcists increasingly are in demand because devil worship has become so common, reported ANSA, the Italian news agency. "Priests are being bombarded," Scarafoni told ANSA. Jason
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Jason,
I think we have to look carefully at the wording. What precisely is the Vatican denying?
God bless,
Gordo
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Jason,
I think we have to look carefully at the wording. What precisely is the Vatican denying?
God bless,
Gordo Good point. "Does your dog bite?" "No" "OUCH! That dog bit me!" "That is not my dog." "Pope Benedict XVI has no intention of ordering local bishops to bring in garrisons of exorcists to fight demonic possession,'' That isn't to say that "Pope Benedict XVI has no intention of ordering local bishops to bring in garrisons of exorcists." But this is well above my pay grade.
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Or even ONE "garrison"! :-)
Gordo
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I would be happy just to see a LEGION of them!  Jason
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I think overall it is high time bishops actually followed the mandate to have a number of local exorcists appointed. They should be there at the very least as a just in case measure.
However, it doesn't appear that these news rumors are quite correct. Let us hope the Vatican is up to something ...
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How are exorcisms handled in the Eastern Catholic Church?
In the Orthodox Church, there does not seem to be the rigid requirement that a suspected possession has to be studied by psychiatrists and psychologists before any prayers can be said.
Here in Los Angeles, there were three recent exorcisms that occurred in the Greek Orthodox Church, but only one had the permission of the Bishop. The other two were on the spot immediate exorcisms that were very effective once the prayers from the service book were said.
In one case, a woman lay dying of cancer in a hospital and was suffering from agitation thought to be from an apparent drug interaction. As the priest walked into the room, he noticed that the hospital orderly, a Catholic, was kneeling by her bedside praying the Rosary. He was trembling and said that there was a demon in her. When the priest asked questions of the lady, she said that she had been a patron of the Psychic Eye, a new age store in Los Angeles where she had purchased some magic herbs to heal her cancer. The demon in her then revealed to the priest personal secrets that only the priest knew. The priest said he could feel every hair on his body move as the shivers went down his spine. He immediately opened his service book to the Exorcism prayers and prayed them as devoutly as he could under the circumstance.
The next day, the priest was asked to return to the hospital by the pastor. He begged the pastor saying he was not feeling well. No luck. He was commanded to go to the hospital where he was met by the patient's friends and relatives who thanked him for freeing her from the demon who had tormented her for several years. He mentioned that it was the Lord who set her free by the prayers of the Church. She died later that week after confessing and receiving Holy Communion.
In the one case where permission was sought, the young man admitted that he was possessed, the priest notified the bishop, prayed for a week, and then scheduled an exorcism in the church narthex just prior to the Divine Liturgy. The other priest who was at the altar preparing the holy gifts heard the commotion and a few screams as the young man fell to the floor as if dead, but the little old ladies in the church were clueless and heard nothing. The man came to his senses, was given help to rise from the ground, was confessed and received the Eucharist.
Last edited by Elizabeth Maria; 12/31/07 02:51 AM.
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Very nice to hear this! Thank you, Elizabeth Maria!
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