XPost: rec.org.mensa, alt.philosophy.debate, alt.religion.kibology   
   XPost: alt.religion.christian   
   From: mani@sympatico.ca   
      
   Pope's exorcist A-teams will wage war on satan, Happy Halloween   
      
   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."   
      
   Under the Catholic Church's Canon Law 1172, all priests can   
   perform exorcisms. But in reality only a select few are assigned the   
   task.   
      
   The rite of exorcism involves a series of gestures and prayers to   
   invoke the power of God and stop the "demon" influencing its victim.   
      
   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.ht   
   l?in_article_id=504969&in_page_id=1811   
      
   Be particularly wary of commie pinko liberal atheist devils. Tape up   
   your windows and look under the bed and thank god you live in the dark   
   ages.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)