Cases of Demonic Possession Soar
Pope Benedict XVI Training Exorcist Squads to Battle Satan
Sep 30, 2008
At that National Paranormal Convention UNIV-CON in 2007, Father James LeBar, exorcist for the Archdiocese of New York, claimed that one in every 10 Catholics in the United States has either witnessed or been part of an exorcism. That’s not just an American trend – exorcisms are experiencing a revival the world over, particularly within Catholic traditions. Concerned by a growing interest in the occult and demonology, the Vatican began serious preparations as recently as 2007 to take on Satanism.
Definition of a Demon
To the ancient Greeks, the word demon meant a guardian angel of sorts, a good and watchful spirit. Today the word demon refers to a malicious, negative force of non-human origins that has the capability to wreak havoc on the human mind and body. Demonologist Keith Johnson teaches that cases involving alleged demonic possession have shared the following qualities:
- Demons are resentful and jealous of humans.
- Demons are certainly capable of causing physical injury to living human beings but they can do even more damage to the human psyche using tactics of fear, guilt and anxiety.
- Demons can make themselves known through emitting nasty odors and growling.
Demonology, the study of all aspects of demonic possession, has experienced growing interest as increasing numbers of people seek to learn about the history and current state of demonic possession.
Rising Numbers of Demonic Possessions
Whether one believes in the existence of demonic possession or not, the numbers of people allegedly affected by demonic forces today are unnerving. A priest in Queensland, Australia disclosed the he currently performs an exorcism at least once every two weeks. In Poland, the number of trained exorcists has doubled over the past five years. Over four hundred Catholic exorcisms have taken place over the past two decades in Italy and that’s not even counting the people requesting church assistance who were unable to receive help.
Priests Disclose the Causes of Modern Demonic Activity
According to Father James LeBar, “Ten years ago I had no cases and now I have three hundred.” What’s behind these dramatic numbers? Father Thomas Williams, the Dean of Theology at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome, stated on The Early Show in February of 2008 that, “There may be two reasons. One is that there’s an increased interest in the occult, even in Satanism. Where I live in Italy, Satanic worship is actually on the rise. And this is true for a lot of places in Europe. And the second reason I think is because people are less careful. Honestly, they maybe pray less. They play around with things they shouldn’t play with, and then they get into trouble…. Anyone can be possessed, but I think you really have to open yourself up to it. You have to be un-careful. And I think the spiritual demons, or bad angels, do exist, and I think it’s an extreme thing, but it happens sometimes.” Williams acknowledged that many cases of demonic possession in the past turned out to be the psychological diseases of today. For instance, Tourette Syndrome, schizophrenia and epilepsy were all thought to be caused by demonic forces at one time.
Father LeBar believes that today’s society contains many gateways to the realm of the demonic. He attributes some of these demonic gateways to a rising interest in the occult, the use of Ouija boards, tarot cards, alcohol, drugs and pornography.
Pope Benedict XVI Organizing Exorcist Squads to Battle Demons
In December of 2007, the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI began organizing exorcist squads to tackle the rise of Satanism and demonic possession. Even as the Catholic Church currently takes measures to equip itself with a larger number of trained exorcists, people all over the world who feel they are under the oppression of the demonic go without help. Pope Benedict XVI hopes to combat this problem with his exorcist squads. When the training has reached completion, each Bishop will have a number of priests who are properly trained to deal with demonic possession. According to Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s chief exorcist, “You have to hunt high and low for a proper trained exorcist. Thanks be to God that we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head on.”
Sources:
"Exorcisms May Be On the Rise". The Early Show, CBS. February 26th 2008.
Edwards, David & Muriel Kane. "Pope backs surge of exorcism squads 'to fight the devil head on'". The Raw Story. February 2008. http://rawstory.com/news/2008/CNN_Vatican_needs_more_exorcists_to_0205.html
Johnson, Keith. "Intro to Demonology". The Penn State Paranormal Research Society. Penn State University, October 20th 2007.
LeBar, James. "Concerning Demonology". The Penn State Paranormal Research Society. Penn State University, October 19th 2007.
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