The 16th annual exorcism held recently by The Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome has drawn in 120 attendants, a record number according to sources. Despite the controversy surrounding the rite, the demand for exorcists worldwide has been spurred on by Pope Francis I who has publicly endorsed the Catholic Church's role in helping "those possessed by evil." This has helped produce a "Pope Francis Effect" with more cases of demonic possession being reported in Europe, Africa, and South America.
While the exorcism course's organizers have acknowledged the need for more support from mental health professionals to help distinguish between mental illness and genuine possession, many families remain adamant in demanding exorcisms rather than accepting that someone is mentally ill. As a result, many exorcists attending the course openly admitted to being overworked and not receiving proper help from mental health professionals and bishops.
In one recent case, Roman Catholic priests in northern Italy conducted a nine-hour exorcism on a 26-year-old woman who became violent during confession and hurled insults in different languages, including Latin. "The young woman had already been seen by an exorcist in Verona, but on Sunday, her parents brought her here, probably to have another go at curing an evil she had suffered for some time," said one priest to reporters. While the woman's father insisted that her problems were due to mental illness, her mother and other family members insisted that she be exorcised instead.
The exorcism was conducted at the Saint Mary of Mount Berico church in Vicenza, Italy,while other churchgoers and emergency crews were prevented from entering the church until afterward. When official exorcist Father Giuseppe Bernardi failed to drive out the demon, other priests stepped in to assist. After the ritual was over, she fell into a deep sleep which they took as a sign of success though she had undergone previous exorcisms. The liberation can not happen immediately. It depends on the strength of the presence and on the entity of the evil one," said one priest.
While Father Bernardi insisted that he had previously consulted psychologists about the woman's case, this is not always the case. Other attendees at the exorcism course also described being called in to conduct exorcisms for a range of other medical conditions, including COVID-19.
At present, Italy has 290 exorcists with some dioceses even operating exorcism hotlines for people demanding the rite. Meanwhile cases of exorcisms being conducted worldwide by religious figures hoping to "drive out evil." Many of these exorcisms have been carried out with the permission and even participation of family members and have led to fatalities and subsequent assault or murder trials. Preventing such tragedies in future may require a miracle in itself.
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