It is precisely because the world is becoming less attuned to God's Spirit   
   each year, that many people won't be able to recognize the Beast, the False   
   Prophet and the Antichrist for who they really are, when they enter upon the   
   world stage sometime in the not-too-distant future.   
      
      
   For Catholics, Interest in Exorcism Is Revived   
      
   By LAURIE GOODSTEIN - NYT   
      
   November 12, 2010   
      
      
   The rite of exorcism, rendered gory by Hollywood and ridiculed by many   
   modern believers, has largely fallen out of favor in the Roman Catholic   
   Church in the United States.   
      
   There are only a handful of priests in the country trained as exorcists, but   
   they say they are overwhelmed with requests from people who fear they are   
   possessed by the Devil.   
      
   Now, American bishops are holding a conference on Friday and Saturday to   
   prepare more priests and bishops to respond to the demand. The purpose is   
   not necessarily to revive the practice, the organizers say, but to help   
   Catholic clergy members learn how to distinguish who really needs an   
   exorcism from who really needs a psychiatrist, or perhaps some pastoral   
   care.   
      
   "Not everyone who thinks they need an exorcism actually does need one," said   
   Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., who organized the   
   conference. "It's only used in those cases where the Devil is involved in an   
   extraordinary sort of way in terms of actually being in possession of the   
   person.   
      
   "But it's rare, it's extraordinary, so the use of exorcism is also rare and   
   extraordinary," he said. "But we have to be prepared."   
      
   The closed-door conference is being held in Baltimore before the annual fall   
   meeting of the nation's bishops. Some Catholic commentators said they were   
   puzzled why the bishops would bother with exorcisms in a year when they are   
   facing a full plate of crises -- from parish and school closings, to polls   
   showing the loss of one of every three white baptized members, to the sexual   
   abuse scandal flaring up again.   
      
   But to R. Scott Appleby, a professor of American Catholic history at the   
   University of Notre Dame, the bishops' timing makes perfect sense.   
      
   "What they're trying to do in restoring exorcisms," said Dr. Appleby, a   
   longtime observer of the bishops, "is to strengthen and enhance what seems   
   to be lost in the church, which is the sense that the church is not like any   
   other institution. It is supernatural, and the key players in that are the   
   hierarchy and the priests who can be given the faculties of exorcism.   
      
   "It's a strategy for saying: 'We are not the Federal Reserve, and we are not   
   the World Council of Churches. We deal with angels and demons.' "   
      
   Pope Benedict XVI has emphasized a return to traditional rituals and   
   practices, and some observers said the bishops' interest in exorcism was   
   consistent with the direction set by the pope.   
      
   Exorcism is as old as Christianity itself. The New Testament has accounts of   
   Jesus casting out demons, and it is cited in the Catholic Church's   
   catechism. But it is now far more popular in Europe, Africa and Latin   
   America than in the United States.   
      
   Most exorcisms are not as dramatic as the bloody scenes in films. The ritual   
   is based on a prayer in which the priest invokes the name of Jesus. The   
   priest also uses holy water and a cross, and can alter the prayer depending   
   on the reaction he gets from the possessed person, said Matt Baglio, a   
   journalist in Rome who wrote the book "The Rite: The Making of a Modern   
   Exorcist" (Doubleday, 2009).   
      
   "The prayer comes from the power of Jesus' name and the church. It doesn't   
   come from the power of the exorcist. The priest doesn't have the magic   
   power," said Mr. Baglio, whose book has been made into a movie to be   
   released in January, starring Anthony Hopkins.   
      
   There is plenty of cynicism among American Catholics -- even among priests   
   -- about exorcism. Mr. Baglio noted that there are hucksters who prey on   
   vulnerable believers, causing them physical or spiritual harm. As a result,   
   he thought it was helpful that the church is making an effort to train more   
   priests to perform the rite legitimately.   
      
   With so few priests who perform exorcisms, and the stigma around it,   
   exorcists are not eager to be identified. Efforts to interview them on   
   Friday were unsuccessful.   
      
   Bishop Paprocki said he was surprised at the turnout for the conference: 66   
   priests and 56 bishops. The goal is for each diocese to have someone who can   
   at least screen requests for exorcisms.   
      
   Some of the classic signs of possession by a demon, Bishop Paprocki said,   
   include speaking in a language the person has never learned; extraordinary   
   shows of strength; a sudden aversion to spiritual things like holy water or   
   the name of God; and severe sleeplessness, lack of appetite and cutting,   
   scratching and biting the skin.   
      
   A person who claims to be possessed must be evaluated by doctors to rule out   
   a mental or physical illness, according to Vatican guidelines issued in   
   1999, which superseded the previous guidelines, issued in 1614.   
      
   The Rev. Richard Vega, president of the National Federation of Priests'   
   Councils, an organization for American priests, said that when he first   
   heard about the conference on exorcism, "My immediate reaction was to say,   
   why?"   
      
   He said that he had not heard of any requests for exorcisms and that the   
   topic had not come up in the notes of meetings from councils of priests in   
   various dioceses.   
      
   The conference on exorcism comes at a time, he said, when the church is   
   bringing back traditional practices. The Vatican has authorized the revival   
   of the Latin Mass, and now a revised English translation of the liturgy,   
   said to be closer to a direct translation from the Latin, is to be put in   
   use in American parishes next year.   
      
   "People are talking about, are we taking two steps back?" Father Vega said.   
   "My first reaction when I heard about the exorcism conference was, this is   
   another of those trappings we've pulled out of the past."   
      
   But he said that there could eventually be a rising demand for exorcism   
   because of the influx of Hispanic and African Catholics to the United   
   States. People from those cultures, he said, are more attuned to the   
   experience of the supernatural.   
      
   Bishop Paprocki noted that according to Catholic belief, the Devil is a real   
   and constant force who can intervene in people's lives -- though few of them   
   will require an exorcism to handle it.   
      
   "The ordinary work of the Devil is temptation," he said, "and the ordinary   
   response is a good spiritual life, observing the sacraments and praying. The   
   Devil doesn't normally possess someone who is leading a good spiritual   
   life."   
      
      
      
   Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23   
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