The Vatican Horror of Rome
Father Benigno Palilla, a Sicilian priest and long-time exorcist, recently informed Vatican Radio that calls for exorcisms had tripled in the last few years. He claimed that each year in Italy, 500,000 purported incidents of demonic possession are registered.
With about 60 million people, the Devil is active in one out of every 120 people in Italy. That's a lot of demons and demoniacs – at least 500,000 of them if they aren't multitasking. As a result of the demonic plague, a six-day workshop in Rome in April at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, a Catholic education organization, to train clergy to recognize and deal with the demonically possessed.
What's the deal with the Devil's recent surge in possession? Palilla attributed it to a rise in activities that "open the door to the Devil," such as seeking out wizards and fortune tellers, reading tarot cards, and dabbling in magic and the occult in general.
This seems strange coming from the Vatican ruled by the ostensibly "modern" Pope Francis. Despite his progressive social views, the Pope is a theological conservative. In a December 2017 television appearance, he said that the Devil is a natural person "equipped with dark abilities."
If there's one thing the Devil isn't, it's ecumenical. It appears that not only Catholics become possessed. Conservative evangelical Protestantism, especially in its Pentecostal forms, has seen a need for "deliverance ministries" for those who have become infested with demons, whether as a result of dabbling with the Devil in occult and magical practices or simply as a result of the Devil's increased activity as the end of the world approaches. "Satan is not only real, but he is far greater than we are, so great that we should have every reason to fear him as warned by Billy Graham. Is that scary? Hahaha.Definitely.n
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