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- The number of exorcisms performed around the world is
rising because of the growth of "new age" religions and spiritual
blindness, a leading exorcist said yesterday.
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- Father Jeremy Davies, 65, an exorcist of the Westminster
diocese, told the Catholic Herald that the increased vigilance of the Roman
Catholic Church in the past 10 years had also contributed to the rise.
He said: "There have been more exorcisms undoubtedly. There are more
people in need and the church is dealing with the problem more effectively.
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- "The incidence of the demonic on the whole is rising.
At the centre of this is man's ever-growing pride and attempted self-reliance.
Man trying to build a better world without God another Tower of Babel."
Father Davies, who is a co-founder of the 200-strong International Association
of Exorcists begun in Rome in 1993, said other root causes were phenomena
such as ignorance of the Bible, lack of faith and spiritual blindness.
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- The growth of false "new age" religions and
gullibility about false prophets also contributed to the rise, he said.
In response to the rise, the Vatican has issued a new exorcism ritual manual,
which replaces the one in use since 1614. The ritual, a 90-page book entitled
De Exorcismus et Supplicantionibus Quibustam (On Every Kind of Exorcism
in Supplication) encourages priests to work closely with the medical profession
to distinguish between cases of mental illness and demonic influence.
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- Father Davies, who was a doctor before taking holy orders,
said the new ritual had not radically altered the work ofexorcists, as
the old ritual also advised priests to distinguish between the varying
degrees of demonic influence and natural psychological disorders. He warned
that there was a tendency in the West to mistake the spiritual for the
psychological, as opposed to the African continent where the reverse was
true. Each Catholic diocese has to appoint an exorcist, but they are rarely
identified publicly. Under 1998 guidelines, they are forbidden to speak
publicly about the performance of the ritual or to record exorcisms for
broadcast.
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- The new exorcism manual which is currently being translated
from Latin for distribution to bishops and exorcists around the world
retains much of the symbolism and language of the medieval ritual, but
encourages priests to spend more time in prayer with the possessed person
and tones down the most aggressive imprecations against the Devil.
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- The new manual is the result of 20 years' work by a Vatican
commission of theologians and liturgists.
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- _____
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- How Evil Spirits Are Cast Out
- Link
- 4-29-00
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- Exorcism is an Anglican rite of deliverance - used for
occult involvement, spiritual oppression and possession. Candles, a crucifix
and sprinklings of holy water may be involved throughout.
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- The exorcism begins when the priest says the Lord's Prayer
and leads those present in a confession. After a gospel reading, the priest
asks the person to turn to Christ and renounce Satan.
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- The priest then stretches a hand out towards the possessed
person and says: "Lord God of hosts, before your presence the armies
of Hell are put to flight. Deliver us from the assaults and temptations
of the evil one. Free him from every evil and unclean spirit that may be
assailing him."
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- The priest rebukes the Devil: "Begone, Satan, and
cease to trouble this servant of God. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
If the person is then able to repeat after the priest: "Jesus is Lord,"
the exorcism has worked. If not, a major exorcism may be deemed necessary,
which can be performed only with a bishop's permission.
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- _____
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- Deliver Us From Illicit Exorcisms, Bishops
Plead
By Ruth Gledhill - Religion Correspondent
- Link
- 4-29-00
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- A surge in exorcisms conducted without the approval of
the Church of England is causing growing concern among Bishops.
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- A report to be debated at the General Synod in July is
expected to describe a huge increase in the numbers of individuals seeking
exorcisms, or "deliverance", from what they believe is demonic
possession.
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- Some individual churches are even holding exorcisms in
the middle of services, without the permission of the Church authorities,
leading to people screaming or collapsing in fainting fits as they are
dispossessed of their "demons". Church leaders are increasingly
concerned that large numbers of vicars are failing to follow official guidelines,
which stipulate that a diocesan bishop's permission must be sought before
an exorcism is carried out. Each bishop has a special adviser on deliverance.
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- The growth of the charismatic evangelical movement in
Britain, inspired by the evangelical revival in Africa and America, means
that increasing numbers of churches, even in the established Church of
England, are following their own path when it comes to exorcisms. The report,
which is with the House of Bishops for debate at their pre-synod meeting
in the next few weeks, is by a working party on "health and healing",
chaired by the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Rev John Perry. It is expected
to recommend a stricter adherence to the official guidelines when parishioners
request an exorcism.
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- The number of cases of possession by the Devil which
are regarded as genuine by the Church is small. One recent case of wailing
and screaming in a house in the Worcester diocese turned out to be a cat
stuck up a chimney. However, the spiritual healing aspect of the Church's
work has, in the past ten years, moved into the mainstream. The Church
of England's new liturgies, Common Worship, to be published later this
year, will contain for the first time a healing service with an element
of deliverance.
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- The Roman Catholic Church has also noted an increase
in exorcisms. Father Jeremy Davies, 65, an exorcist of the Westminster
Diocese, writing in this week's Catholic Herald, says that there has been
a worldwide increase in exorcisms, arguing that it is a direct result of
the spread of "irreligion" and of "false" religions.
He said: "There have been more exorcisms undoubtedly. There are more
people in need."
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- But he said that the Catholic Church was now "dealing
with the problem more effectively". The Vatican recently revised and
reissued its exorcism rite. In Italy, the number of priests carrying out
exorcisms has risen from 20 six years ago to 300.
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- Fears of demonic possession, are thought to be fuelled
in part by films such as The Exorcist but are also being put down to the
growth in new age pagan beliefs, such as the fear that people can be influenced
by the spirits of their ancestors.
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- The Rev Stephen Parsons, vicar of Lechlade in Gloucester,
said: "One of the things no one explains is why it is that in certain
parishes the Devil comes in thick and fast, while in other parishes he
is very quiet. The answer seems to be that it is where people believe in
devils that they seem to emerge."
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- Mr Parsons, an adviser on healing, describes in his book
Ungodly Fear the abuses of the exorcism rites among fundamentalist Christians.
He tells the story of a parish in the Midlands where a woman was ostracised
by the entire congregation after the vicar decided that she was possessed
by the Devil.
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- Dr David Burnett, a social anthropologist and Baptist
Church leader, who lectures at All Nations Christian College in Hertfordshire,
said: "There is a big increase in exorcisms. People are feeling dissatisfied
with the secular, materialist world and are looking for spiritual answers."
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- He said the Devil was being blamed for illness, accidents
and other events over which people had little control.
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