Priests in Europe may soon be working overtime in their ageless struggle against the dark forces of evil.
The Catholic diocese of Milan has created a special exorcism hotline and has doubled the number of exorcism-practicing priests.
The
BBC reports the number of trained priests has jumped from six to 12 to
try and keep up with an apparent increase in calls over the past 15
years from citizens claiming to need the services of an exorcist.
"From the number of calls we receive, the need has doubled,"
Monsignor Angelo Mascheroni -- the diocese's chief exorcist since 1995
-- told the news website Incrocinews. "We get young and old, men and
women, people with different levels of education, from school-leavers to
graduates."
A special switchboard has been set up where people
can call Monday through Friday between 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. for all
their exorcism needs. Mascheroni said that one priest was reportedly
seeing as many as 120 people a day.
"People in need can call and
will be able to find a priest in the same area who doesn't have to
travel too far," Mascheroni said, according to The Independent.
While
the diocese receives up to four calls each day, what exactly are people
calling about? Are demons running rampant in and around Milan,
necessitating interventions by priests trained in the task of banishing
evil from unwilling victims?
Mascheroni suggests that the rise in
exorcist calls could have something to do with the number of parents
having discipline problems with their children.
"Usually the
parents call, concerned about a child who won't go to school or who's
taking drugs or rebelling," he said. "In reality, it's not a demon, but
when they're 18 years old, young people don't want to be told what to
do."
Maybe that's where the phrase "you little devils" originated.
Even
with the increased number of exorcism requests and priests available to
perform them, Mascheroni cautions against believing that there's any
sort of "real diabolical phenomena" behind it all, preferring to blame
"mental and psychiatric disorders" for the reported unusual behaviors.
Father
Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's chief exorcist for 25 years, claims
involvement with about 70,000 demonic possession cases. That's a lot of
alleged bad energy and fodder for bad movies.
Last year, Amorth
insisted that sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic church proved
that "the Devil is at work inside the Vatican," according to the
Independent.
Amorth also previously stated that "Practicing yoga
is Satanic, it leads to evil just like reading Harry Potter. In Harry
Potter, the Devil acts in a crafty and covert manner, under the guise of
extraordinary powers, magic spells and curses."
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