Church gearing up to confront Satan

For most of the 20th century, or at least for the part I know about, the church has played down the need to confront Evil and the deceiver behind it Satan. Many bishops felt that there was no need to waste diocese resources towards exorcism or those that are knowledgeable in evil and its infestations among man.So although some diocese had an exorcist on staff--they were nearly always denied authorization to involve themselves with this line of work.

But times have changed and there is movement afoot to train priests and laity in this vocation. I copied the article here from Reuters which involves just such a school.

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First Day of School for Aspiring Vatican Exorcists


ROME -- 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."

Source: REUTERS/By Philip Pullella

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My ministry was not one where I came directly in touch with evil in a way that I ever focused on a need to confront it. I have always seen the affects but never the one behind the affects.

Since entering a retirement mode from active priesthood, my focus has been one of communication and involvement on many many topics and with many many folks who I know only as an internet "nickname" . And because I now have more time to study and research, I also have had more time to ponder the "whys" behind some of the evil I have uncovered. Satan operates through many sources and his ugly head cannot stay out of sight for long whenever efforts such as mine are devoted toward rooting him out in confrontation.

Abortion, crime, corruption, pornography, abuse, neglect--all are symptoms of his influence.

I'm glad the church is finally coming to its senses and arming those in the front lines with a proper education and tools to deal with the evil around us.

On another note:

Yesterday I succeeded in nearly destroying this blog. i was meddling with the html code trying to add some more bells and whistles. the result was that I needed to re-load the entire blog onto the template anew. Of course this resulted in me losing the counter, and two links which I had previously painstakenly added. I need a good tutorial on code. If anybdy knows one readily available in the internet. Please drop me a message including the information.

Yodi says hi to any viewers that were denied access here while I had the blog down. Me--well-I say sorry.