Teh One Who Knocks
04-20-2015, 11:40 AM
Caribbean 360 News
http://i.imgur.com/74P66Mx.jpg
ROME, Italy, Friday April 17, 2015 – Over four decades after the film version of William Peter Blatty’s novel The Exorcist left movie-goers stunned, the Vatican is training ordinary Catholics to cope with the rapid escalation in the number of cases of demonic possession.
A team of experts, including practising exorcists, has been convened by the Vatican to equip doctors, psychologists, teachers, and the like, with the skills needed to recognise and deal with demonic possession.
One of the main purposes of the exercise is to assist would-be exorcists in distinguishing demonic possession from psychological or medical conditions, according to the organisers.
The tenth annual “Exorcism and Prayer of Liberation” course, sponsored by the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy, the department responsible for overseeing matters regarding priests, got underway this week at Rome’s Regina Apostolorum University.
Father Pedro Barrajon, director of the Sacerdos Institute which is organising the course, said: “Living in an increasingly secularised society than in the past there is more tendency to open the door to the occult.
“Demonic activity is increased by the practice of magic and visiting fortune tellers which can increase the likelihood of a possession.”
Other experts say demonic activity is on the rise as a result of increased interest in the occult among the young including ouija boards and seances.
Last year, the International Association of Exorcists referred to the trend as “a pastoral emergency.”
The Vatican went on to try to introduce Holyween, a festival in which children would dress up as saints and attend prayer vigils, as an alternative to the darker celebration of Halloween.
Pope Francis has frequently expressed the belief that the devil really exists and is not merely “a myth, a figure, an idea, the idea of evil.”
Two years ago, the pontiff reportedly performed an exorcism on a wheelchair-bound young man, who shook violently when Francis laid his hands on him and said a blessing.
http://i.imgur.com/74P66Mx.jpg
ROME, Italy, Friday April 17, 2015 – Over four decades after the film version of William Peter Blatty’s novel The Exorcist left movie-goers stunned, the Vatican is training ordinary Catholics to cope with the rapid escalation in the number of cases of demonic possession.
A team of experts, including practising exorcists, has been convened by the Vatican to equip doctors, psychologists, teachers, and the like, with the skills needed to recognise and deal with demonic possession.
One of the main purposes of the exercise is to assist would-be exorcists in distinguishing demonic possession from psychological or medical conditions, according to the organisers.
The tenth annual “Exorcism and Prayer of Liberation” course, sponsored by the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy, the department responsible for overseeing matters regarding priests, got underway this week at Rome’s Regina Apostolorum University.
Father Pedro Barrajon, director of the Sacerdos Institute which is organising the course, said: “Living in an increasingly secularised society than in the past there is more tendency to open the door to the occult.
“Demonic activity is increased by the practice of magic and visiting fortune tellers which can increase the likelihood of a possession.”
Other experts say demonic activity is on the rise as a result of increased interest in the occult among the young including ouija boards and seances.
Last year, the International Association of Exorcists referred to the trend as “a pastoral emergency.”
The Vatican went on to try to introduce Holyween, a festival in which children would dress up as saints and attend prayer vigils, as an alternative to the darker celebration of Halloween.
Pope Francis has frequently expressed the belief that the devil really exists and is not merely “a myth, a figure, an idea, the idea of evil.”
Two years ago, the pontiff reportedly performed an exorcism on a wheelchair-bound young man, who shook violently when Francis laid his hands on him and said a blessing.