Papal exorcism squads to wage war on Satan

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-12-29 12:20pm

Daily Mail, so take with spoon of salt wrote: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.

Up until now, official exorcists had a mostly ceremonial role, with the majority of the cases getting referred to proper psychiatric care. But leave it to pop Benny to turn back the clock - he must be missing his days running the Inquisition already.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2007-12-29 12:59pm

So, will they kick ass like the ones in Hellsing? I doubt it

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2007-12-29 12:59pm

So is he trying to start, like an elite group of priests and such that have the authority to "exorcise" Satan wherever they see it.. a Papal SS squad? Crazy Germans.

Tanasinn · Post by **Tanasinn** » 2007-12-29 01:07pm

Stas Bush wrote:So, will they kick ass like the ones in Hellsing? I doubt it

Took the words out of my mouth.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2007-12-29 01:34pm

havokeff wrote:So is he trying to start, like an elite group of priests and such that have the authority to "exorcise" Satan wherever they see it.. a Papal SS squad? Crazy Germans.

Wir haben Wege des Machens Sie vortragen Den Alle Vater...

The Guid · Post by **The Guid** » 2007-12-29 01:40pm

The Vatican is particularly concerned that young people are being exposed to the influence of Satanic sects through rock music and the Internet.

So are they going to crash rock concerts and internet cafes throwing holy water and shouting "I cast you out!" in the hopes that the music or surfing will stop and everyone will break into the Hallelujah chorus?

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-12-29 02:39pm

This is absurd and cool.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-12-29 02:39pm

P.S. How many divisions has the Pope NOW?

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2007-12-29 02:42pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:P.S. How many divisions has the Pope NOW?

Just the one. Papal Exorcism Squads are not arranged into divisions.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-12-29 02:46pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:P.S. How many divisions has the Pope NOW?

Technically every priest can do an exorcism; the abbey of Averbode, where I met one exorcist, has three priests who perform them.

This is absurd and cool.

The Vatican's chief exorcist is called Gabriele Amorth. With a name like that, you can't not be an exorcist

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2007-12-29 02:51pm

This ... is still 2007, right?

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2007-12-29 02:53pm

Durandal wrote:This ... is still 2007, right?

I dont know... perhaps we are actually a thousand years off and it is 1007

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2007-12-29 02:54pm

Durandal wrote:This ... is still 2007, right?

It's definitely 2007. There's just alot of people who'd prefer it to be 807.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2007-12-29 03:53pm

SirNitram wrote:
Durandal wrote:This ... is still 2007, right?
It's definitely 2007. There's just alot of people who'd prefer it to be 807.

807 with ATOMICS!

FSTargetDrone · Post by **FSTargetDrone** » 2007-12-29 04:11pm

Why do I get the feeling that The Church isn't as interested in going after pedophiles with the same zeal?

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2007-12-29 04:11pm

Question; anyone know if it is illegal to prank a exorcist?

Man, I'd love to see a "scare tactics" setup where an FX crew went all out on a room, and had a good lil actress act possessed!

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2007-12-29 04:13pm

Lord Poe wrote:Question; anyone know if it is illegal to prank a exorcist?

Man, I'd love to see a "scare tactics" setup where an FX crew went all out on a room, and had a good lil actress act possessed!

Good. Fucking. Question.

Phantasee · Post by **Phantasee** » 2007-12-29 04:16pm

It's probably only illegal under Church law, and if you aren't a Catholic, you don't really have to worry about that, unless you pull it off in the Holy See (in the Pope's apartment?).

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-12-29 04:20pm

Lord Poe wrote:Question; anyone know if it is illegal to prank a exorcist?

Man, I'd love to see a "scare tactics" setup where an FX crew went all out on a room, and had a good lil actress act possessed!

I don't think it is; otherwise every candid camera show ever would be in trouble. Getting the permission to air it might be trickier.

Phantasee · Post by **Phantasee** » 2007-12-29 05:26pm

Youtube?

This video has been taken down due to a request by God.

Thag · Post by **Thag** » 2007-12-29 05:28pm

What is he worried about? Satan was quite clealy defeated by Tenacious D over a year ago.

Tasoth · Post by **Tasoth** » 2007-12-29 06:23pm

I read that and three images come to my mind:

The horrifying one is armies of 'true believers' clad in white exorcist robes descending on the 'possessed' in automatics.

Jack Crowe and Felix hauling goth kids into the sunlight with arrows attached to a jeep winch via cable.

Bad modern horror with pistol packing priests fighting lovecraftian monstrosities through back alleys and the darker places of the urban environment.

But this just proves the pope is a fuckin' nutter. Or a genius. I like how he declares war on two of the better means of distributing ideas through a society. Plus, after a few high profile cases of these exorcists taking down DEMONS(RAR)!!!™, who knows, maybe church attendance will go up.

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2007-12-29 07:01pm

Satan was quite clealy defeated by Tenacious D over a year ago.

Won't he still be at large until after the Phobos Incident somewhere in the near future?

Winston Blake · Post by **Winston Blake** » 2007-12-29 08:26pm

I was disappointed in the third line. This is what it actually says:

They have introduced courses for priests to combat what they call the most extreme form of "Godlessness."

This is what I saw:

They have introduced combat courses for priests for what they call the most extreme form of "Godlessness."

Breaking news: Swiss guard to recruit ex-Spec Ops.

Pope comments that 'Vatican Security Worldwide, Inc.' is planned to be 'an entire legion of my best troops'.

Three month Blackwater-led training program to end with ordination and tactical cassocks for all graduates.

Ritterin Sophia · Post by **Ritterin Sophia** » 2007-12-29 10:16pm

Winston Blake wrote:Breaking news: Swiss guard to recruit ex-Spec Ops.

Pope comments that 'Vatican Security Worldwide, Inc.' is planned to be 'an entire legion of my best troops'.

Three month Blackwater-led training program to end with ordination and tactical cassocks for all graduates.

How dare you insinuate that the Swiss Guard isn't already a bunch of badass motherfuckers, I mean, look at what they wear!