Exorcists overwhelmed by the sheer amount of possessed people

Apparently possessed people have spent time in 'new age' spiritual groups

Catholic priests are in a spot of trouble, mainly because they can't cope with the sheer amount of people who require exorcisms. At the Regina Apostolorum's 16th annual exorcism course in Rome, which aims to educate priests on the do's and don'ts of exorcism, numerous religious officials reported an increase in demonic possession, reports The Times. Father Giuseppe Bernardi told researchers that he had performed a nine-hour exorcism on a woman who assaulted monks and screamed abuse in Latin. While her father believed she had a "psychiatric problem", the girl's mother argued that it was a "demonic influence." [caption id="attachment_339031" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Via Unsplash[/caption] Father Bernardi and colleagues have called for better access to psychologists who could aid in separating the mentally ill from the demonically possessed. In the unnamed girl's instance, Father Bernardi sought the help of a psychologist but found no support from the church community while exploring this avenue. .According to the conference's attendees, there are a couple of ways to identify a genuine possession case. If someone is speaking in Latin, Aramaic, or Hebrew, they are either possessed, can speak the language, or have access to Google Translate. Vomiting is also a clear sign, according to the experts. "Some said they were seeing 30 to 50 cases a day," said researcher Giuseppe Frau, illustrating the amount of possessed people out there. [caption id="attachment_339032" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Via Unsplash[/caption] Another researcher, Luis Santamaria del Rio, said: "Many of the potentially possessed people they see in Spain have spent time with New Age, spiritual or meditation groups." Father Pedro Barrajon, who also works as a theology professor, said the course is needed to provide exorcists with the correct information to battle the hordes of hell. "Costa Rica didn't have a single exorcist and last year they named their first one. Manila in the Philippines now have a dedicated office and team," he said. "It used to be like the Wild West out there, but the quality is going up and we are seeing more co-operation with psychologists. Exorcism always arouses interest because of films about it, but the truth is these priests need to be trained."

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