"Why is Demonic Possession on the Rise?"

The Vatican has backed a new exorcism course apparently due to the recent rise in occult practices...especially among the young.

Professor Giuseppe Ferrari, a leading authority on demonic possession, claims all the vampire-hype in the Twilight saga (etc.) is encouraging young people to dabble in the occult.

The result? A global rise in demonic possessions.

Professor Ferrari, head of The Group on Research and Socio-Religious Information (an Italian occult watchdog organization), urges only properly trained priests to conduct exorcisms.

Pope Francis agrees. Vatican to Train More Exorcists

According to an article in The Independent: "Although the Vatican regards genuine demonic possession as rare, with many suspected cases proving to be people with mental illnesses, Pope Francis has urged dioceses to ensure that they follow Catholic law and have at least one trained exorcist each."

Not convinced this is a serious problem?

"In 2012 it emerged that the Diocese of Milan, the biggest in the world, had installed an exorcism hot line to cope with the demand," reports The Independent.

"Monsignor Angelo Mascheroni, Milan's chief exorcist, said that his diocese had doubled the number of exorcists from 6 to 12 to cope with the 100% rise in the number of requests for help over the last 15 years."

In fact, in the Diocese of Rome a third of the telephone calls received by Catholic officials relate to requests for exorcisms.

"Priests at the conference blamed everything from pornography, television and drug taking to greater interest in the occult for the rise in the number of demonic possessions," contends The Telegraph.

And the U.S.?

"The ancient rite of casting out Satan and his demons from the souls of the possessed is thriving," say experts. "Exorcism Thriving in U.S."

While concern over demonic possession seems to be the purview of Catholics, the Bible warns all Christians the devil is on the prowl for victims (see 1 Peter 6:8).

"But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons." (1 Timothy 4:1)

A wise man once said: "An exorcism is tantamount to a miracle--an extraordinary intervention of God."  -- Gabriele Nanni, exorcist

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