January 1, 2008
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Be on the lookout for rotating heads and projectile vomiting!!!
__________________________________________________________________________________Pope's exorcist squads will wage war on Satan
by Nich Pisa, Daily Mail
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 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._______________________________________________________________________________________Okay, this is a joke, right? They're not really looking to wage war with an invisible evil spirit who apparently manifest themselves through internet websites and bending guitar solos, are they? Please tell me that when they say "the Devil" they are simply personifying immoral behavior and wrongdoing and not refering to an actual being of some sort. My favorite line is "You have to hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist." I agree - I hate when you get those "trainee" exorcists and they don't bring enough holy water and they can't remember the prayer and a couple weeks later, you're possessed again! Seriously though, how can the Vatican issue statements like these and expect not to be seen as archaic and increasingly irrelevant in the more developed parts of the world?
Comments (1)
Rock music exposing people to Satanic sects?! Depending on who you ask, it has had a very different effect--namely, ending "godless Communism". Check out the following article written 5 years ago. I have to say, Simonyi has great taste in music.
Hungarian ambassador says rock music helped end communism
By The Associated Press
(11/10/03 - CLEVELAND) — Rock music played lead in giving Hungarian baby boomers the resolve to bring down their communist state, says one of those reformers who today is a government official.
Andras Simonyi, Hungary's ambassador to the United States, spent an hour Saturday night discussing the impact of Western songs on Eastern European politics before an invitation-only audience of 250 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Simonyi, 51, was a devoted fan of the Beatles, Cream, Traffic and Jimi Hendrix when their releases weren't officially permitted in Hungary. Records and tapes sometimes were smuggled in or recorded from foreign radio broadcasts.
Hungary became a democracy in 1990 after more than 40 years of communism. The nation of 10 million joined NATO in 1999 and will formally join the European Union on May 1, 2004.
"By keeping in touch with the music scene in the West, it kind of kept me sane and with the feeling I was part of the free world," said Simonyi, an economist by training.
The ambassador was introduced by defense and anti-terrorism consultant Jeff Baxter, who once played guitar with The Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan.
Baxter and Simonyi said they would like to establish an institute to study rock music's global influences.
"There is a commonality to the music and freedom," Baxter said. "To Andras, Western music was an open window of fresh air in a very repressive society."
Simonyi impressed an audience member from Hungary.
"He represents quite well his generation," said Judit Gerencser, a 27-year-old student at Cleveland State University. "I have heard about this from my parents, but I never really heard about just how much this music was influential."
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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