Pope Francis Gives Green Light to Exorcism Lobby!
' New pope 'exorcises' man by laying on hands - man convulses. Details here:

Exorcims Death Toll Rises whilst the Authorities Bumble. 

This is how the Sun reported it:

Seven Years ago (see full report in right-hand column) we alerted the public, and the authorities to the growing number of persecutions of children by spiritual fanatics from Christianity and Islam but to their undying shame the child scare industry was too busy chasing phantom Satanists and occupying police time with bogus cases.

Four years later the decrepit media of the U.K. began to see we were right and began looking at the issue, but typically, the Othodoxy Blind-Spot kicked in and the Media blamed it all on West African 'Jungle Ju-Ju' portraying radical Christian and Islamic ministers as 'Witch-doctors' instead of Christians and Moslems who were viciously re-interpeting their Holy Books.

The cry went up!
'Save the Witch-Children'

They didn't cry 'Save the Kids from twisted self-styled Christian Pastors'.

They didn't cry 'Why are Christian and Moslem Leaders allowing religious radicals to abuse and kill children in the name of their religions?'

And so the torture and abuse was yet again swept under the carpet whilst the-powers-that-be wait for another shedload of dead kids to pile up before they do something about it.

The SAFF has tracked the growth of fundamentalist fanaticism from the main orthodox religions for over twenty years. We were the FIRST to campaign against the mammoth hidden abuse by Priests and the Clergy (see here) which was institutionally covered up and hidden from the public's view in favour of chasing the phantom of Satanic Ritual Child Abuse which, in the course of time, turned out simply to be a smoke-screen to hide the ugly excesses of child abusing priests and pastors.

We named and shamed the major religions twenty years ago and they did nothing. Over the past ten years thousands of cases have come to light in the U.S. and in Ireland where recently an official report (The Ryan Report) roundly condemned the Irish Government and the Irish Catholic Church for actually colluding to hide unbelievable numbers of cases of the priestly abuse of children from the public.

It is now absoutely impossible for any Christian to deny that these things happen or deny that Clergy Abuse is an endemic problem. Many hundreds of those kids need not have suffered if the authorities had listend to what we were saying but the British Establishment is so shot through with prejudice and bigotry that they would sooner give millions of pounds worth of taxpayers money to activists in the Child Scare Industry who repay their benfactors by promoting fictional ideas about irrational enemies of the State. The Devil Made Them Do it!

What did the Church of England do when we aimed our campaign squarely at them? They started a countrywide campaign to try to ban Halloween because they say it is 'dangerous' to children! (see here) Ha! Kids being killed by Christians under their noses and they prefer to harrangue Halloween. You get the picture. Their attitude, and the attitude of the media in Britain today is nothing short of despicable, yet only the SAFF has the courage to tell the truth and here it is:

If just ten percent of the resources that the Child Scare Industry has thrown at the phantom of Satanic Ritualised Child Abuse were diverted to unearthing despicable men and women who disguise their evil by passing it off as justified by the Bible or the Koran we could erradicate cases like poor Khyra Ishaq and probably save the lives of hundreds of children almost overnight.

Instead I suppose we are going to have to put up with the usual hypocritical spectacle of a public enquiry where the government, the social services, the child charities and the media conjoin in a communal wailing and gnashing of teeth to produce yet another set of revamped guidelines which social workers will ignore as quickly as the last.

Hello! Is anyone listening?

John Freedom Mortlake Summer Solstice 2009ev

. STOP PRESS : STOP PRESS : LATEST HORRIFIC CASE PROVES SAFF CONTENTIONS : STOP PRESS: STOP PRESS : MORE BLOOD ON THE HANDS OF THE BRITISH MEDIA! A Muslim woman disemboweled her daughter as a sacrifice to God after she became convinced the four-year-old was possessed by spirits, the Old Bailey heard. Shayma Ali, 36, stabbed the girl up to 40 times and took out her liver while Koranic verses played in the background. When police arrived at their east London home, Ali was heard chanting: 'I seek refuge in God from the curse of Satan'. Shayma Ali admitted stabbing her daughter and cutting out her liver to 'exorcise evil spirits' Ali was found covered in blood rocking back and forward in the lounge of her home, with the child's liver on the carpet. She had become obsessed that the child was possessed by a Jinn, a spirit referred to in the Koran which can occupy humans and animals. Duncan Atkinson, prosecuting, said Ali had become an increasingly devout follower of Islam after a trip to Egypt in 2009. 'She became particularly pre-occupied by the idea of possession by a thing call a Jinn ... and she talked constantly about evil spirits and the belief that her daughter was possessed. Atkinson told the Old Bailey Ali became increasingly obsessed with exorcising the evil spirits....she 'talked constantly about evil spirits' and the belief that her daughter was possessed. Ali later told a psychiatrist she had been praying when she began to think about sacrificing a child 'as proof of her love of God'. Source: Daily Mail Fundamentalist agitators invent the satanic scares from religious psychoses. Therapists and the child-scare industry jump on the bandwagon for an easy hit and encourage the fantasies. The Xist British Media dutifully exaggerate the shock-horror cases whilst cynical politicians wring their hands in despair on the sidelines...... and all the while, quietly in the background the intellectual poison produced by their wicked minds preys on the religious psychotics who have been failed by the mental health system. Dangerous people who take on board the lies and irresponsible portrayals of the Satan Hunters, ready to justify butchering their four year old children in the name of their god in a catharsis which could have been easily avoided if the corrupt journalists of the British Media had only limited themselves to their professional duty. The popularisation of exorcism by the BBC Everyman team has left a legacy which will claim many more victims yet.....and not a witch or satanist in sight......

Latest: latest: Latest: Latest: Latest: Latest: Latest: Woman killed son in botched exorcism then kept his body in plastic bag to be resurected Latisha Lawson choked her son Jeziah to death 'to exorcise the devil in him' Latisha Lawson, 31, forced her two-year-old son Jezaih to drink a vile mixture of olive oil and vinegar as part of a ritual to drive the devil from his body. As he choked on the liquid she held her hand over his mouth to stop him vomiting and crushed his neck. Jurors heard Lawson had wanted to drive a demon named as "Marzon" from her son's body. She had become convinced that her son was possessed and blamed herself because she did not profess her love for God while she was pregnant. Police said Lawson kept Jezaih's body in a plastic sack for more than a year after his November 2009 death until she was arrested. Lawson said she was convinced her son was possessed by demons as his behaviour had changed. "I knew and believe I was interacting with a demon at that time," Lawson said. She said she kept her son's body as she was convinced her son would be resurrected after his death "I went in and just asked God to bring him back," she said. "He did it in the Bible. He did it with Lazarus. He did it with a child in the Bible." Source: Carry On Judge! See How Hysterical Religiosity Infects The British Legal System. Now any crime can be excused if you say you are possessed. (see here)

More Cases of lunatic exorcism below. Does the BBC condone this too? Where are the people at Everyman who promoted this evil?

Daily Telegraph (Filed: 22/09/2006) Exorcism priest denies murder :  By Michael Leidig in Vienna A priest and four nuns have pleaded not guilty to murdering a young nun who  was strapped to a crucifix with a cloth in her mouth during a five-day crucifixion ritual. Father Petru Corogeanu and sisters Nicoleta Arcalianu, Adina Cepreaga, Simona Bardanas and Elena Otel told the court in Vaslui, eastern Romania,  yesterday that they had performed the exorcism at the Tanacu Monastery to try to help 23-year-old Irina Cornici. They said at the time that she had been possessed by Satan. It emerged after her death that Cornici had been diagnosed as a schizophrenic.   Father Corogeanu told the court that the exorcism ritual was "quite normal"  and blamed medics who attended to Cornici for her death. He has been excommunicated.

Evangelist Church Leader Tortures 10 Year Old Daughter Daily Mail 04th December 2009 An evangelist church leader who tortured his 10-year-old daughter and kept her prisoner for four days with no food because he was convinced she was a witch was jailed for eight-and-a-half years today. The twisted 39-year-old, dripped boiling hot plastic over his terrified daughter's feet and beat her senseless after she became 'possessed by evil spirits'. 'She did not even have a bed to sleep on. You bound her, you gagged her, you beat her, you whipped her and then kept her prisoner with no food. The court heard the girl's hands were so badly burned after being held over a candle the blisters protruded two inches out from her palms. On another occasion the man cut his daughter's shoulder with a knife and smashed her head against a wall before standing on her face. The man sat impassively in the witness box and at points laughed when the crimes against his daughter was read out.

Preacher Guilty In Boy's Exorcism Death By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express July 9, 2004 MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN--After deliberating just four hours, a jury convicted Ray Anthony Hemphill with felony physical abuse of a child causing great bodily harm in the suffocation death of 8-year-old Terrance Cottrell Jr. The boy's father told reporters the ruling was "minor justice", adding that he thought prosecutors should have charged Hemphill with manslaughter or murder. Ray Hemphill, 47, was ordained as a pastor of the Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith. Hemphill told police on the night of August 22, 2003 that he had been holding a series of special prayer services, described by some as exorcisms, over the previous three weeks to remove "evil spirits" of autism from Cottrell. Hemphill, who weighed 157 pounds, described how he would sit or lay on "Junior's" chest for up to two hours at a time, whispering into the boy's ear for the "demons" to leave his body.

Baby Killed in Baptism Ceremony A priest has been accused of drowning a six-week-old boy as he baptised him in Moldova. Witnesses claimed the baby died after Father Valentin failed to cover his mouth and nose when he immersed him in water three times. Film shot by relatives shows the youngster moving after being taken out of the font, but then suffering difficulty breathing as he is dressed. Twenty minutes later, he started bleeding from his nose and mouth and died. Source:

Six Year Old Girl Killed During Exorcism Sixth Child Death due to Exorcism in past few years ATLANTA, Jan. 20, 2004 Exorcism Suspected In Child Death 6-Year Old Found Severely Beaten, Stabbed, Strangled In Atlanta By John Esterbrook (CBS/AP) A 6-year-old girl found dead in a motel room had been strangled, stabbed, beaten and covered in pages torn from a Bible, possibly in an attempt to "undemonize" her, police said Tuesday. Christopher Carey, 29, and his wife Valerie, 27, were charged with murder. The husband was later transferred to jail. The older child provided detectives with information that led investigators to the motel where the 6-year-old was discovered, police spokesman Sgt. John Quigley said. Quigley said the adults indicated they were conducting a ritual that "had something to do with undemonizing the child." If the girl was the victim of an exorcism, hers would be at least the sixth such death in the past nine years. On March, 8, 1995, Kyung-A Ha, 25, was beaten severely during a night-long exorcism conducted by members of the Jesus-Amen Ministries in San Francisco. Kyung Jae Chung was killed in a July 4, 1996 exorcism in Los Angeles. In 1997, a 5-year old girl in Bronx, N.Y., was forced to drink a mixture of ammonia, pepper, vinegar and olive oil because her mother and grandmother thought she was possessed. Gagged with duct tape, she died. Charity Miranda, a teenager from Long Island, N.Y., was suffocated in a plastic bag by her mother and sister during a ceremony in 1998. Terrance Cottrell, an 8-year-old, was beaten to death during an attempted exorcism in Milwaukee last September. ©MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Source:

Wisconsin jury: Father guilty in prayer death caseBy ROBERT IMRIE ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER A central Wisconsin man accused of killing his 11-year-old daughter by praying instead of seeking medical care was found guilty Saturday of second-degree reckless homicide. Dale Neumann, 47, was convicted in the March 23, 2008, death of his daughter, Madeline, from undiagnosed diabetes. Prosecutors contended he should have rushed the girl to a hospital because she couldn't walk, talk, eat or drink. Instead, Madeline died on the floor of the family's rural Weston home as people surrounded her and prayed. Someone called 911 when she stopped breathing. Source:

Cops probe whether exorcism caused Va. teen death THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CENTREVILLE, Va. -- Police in Virginia are investigating whether a Korean-American teenager's death last year was caused by a religious ritual in her family's home. Eighteen-year-old Rayoung Kim of Centreville died in July 2008 of blunt force trauma, according to medical examiners, and her death was ruled a homicide. According to court records, Kim's brother told Fairfax County Police that family members and others had been performing a religious ritual on Kim before she lost consciousness. Kim's father declined to comment on whether an exorcism had been performed. Source:

Five and Eight Year Old Exorcised to Death By Christian Pastor Children die in religious rite: Tuesday 14 February 2012 00:53 South Korean police have arrested a 43-year-old church pastor and his wife who confessed to beating their three young children to death in an attempt to cleanse them of their illnesses and sins. Police said the children, aged five, eight and ten, were found with their heads shaved and their parents kneeling beside them in a house used as a church. They were found in Boseong, a village in the south, on Saturday. South Korean media reports said the “pastor” and his wife had a congregation of ten followers and said they had locked up their children – two sons and a daughter – on 24 January after they became sick with colds. The couple beat each child with a belt and fly-swatter 39 times in the morning and 39 times in the evening. Source:

Fundie Nut Uses Kitchen-Table-Surgery on Four Year Old Son A Vancouver-area father has been found guilty after botching a home-circumcision attempt on his four-year-old son as part of a spiritual quest to make things right with God. The former Jehovah's Witness, who was trying to follow a literal interpretation of the Bible after a series of misfortunes hit his family. During the trial, the Court heard that in 2002 he began the religious quest that eventually led him to believe that both he and son needed to be circumcised to celebrate Passover. His first attempt to circumcise himself ended up with his foreskin turning black and only part of it cut off. When he couldn't stop the bleeding, he called an ambulance, and a doctor in a hospital emergency room ended up stitching up the bleeding wound. The man later returned to the internet for more research and met some other religious fundamentalists, who were also dog breeders. They advised him they used a veterinary powder called BloodStop to halt any bleeding when they circumcised their 13-year-old son . When asked in court whether the man used ice to ease the boy's pain, he replied, "Where would the Israelites have found ice?" He then applied Blood Stop, gave the boy some ice cream and told him he could watch whatever movies he wanted that week, before heading off to church.

Christians Starve 18 month old baby to death because he wouldn't say 'Amen' Sickening Christian fundamentalists starved baby Javon Thompson (left) to death because he would not (or could not!) say the word 'Amen' after the lord's prayer and because he was diagnosed as demonically 'defiant' by the cult leaders. The baby's body was stuffed in a suitcase. More background here:

Send Any Cases of  Exorcism You See to:

Nearly 90 people, mostly women, have been beheaded, burnt alive or stabbed to death after being accused of being witches in India

Indian athlete Debjani Bora was beaten to within an inch of her life  in 'witch hunt'Calcutta . Debjani Bora has won several gold medals in javelin. She has described how she was tied up and severely beaten after being branded a witch in her village in the north-eastern state of Assam. She fears her injuries may prevent her representing India in a forthcoming Asian contest.Witch hunts targeting women are common in parts of India and a number of those accused are killed every year.

The latest incident took place earlier this week in Ms Bora's home village in the remote hill district of Karbi Anglong, where she also makes a living as a farm worker and lives with her husband and three children.
She was blamed in the wake of the the deaths of four people in the village, including one man who took his own life. Police said villagers dragged her to a community prayer hall to face a "public trial on charges of being a witch".

She later said:

"Instead of finding out why all the deaths occurred, some village elders suspected a witch was driving the people to death and organised a prayer. As the villagers were chanting hymns, one elderly woman identified me as the witch and shouted that I should be punished.  I was blamed for all these deaths in the village, wrapped up in fishing nets and beaten up severely."

She was taken to a local clinic, where she regained consciousness on Wednesday.

Karbi Anglong police chief Mugdha Jyoti Mahanta said one woman was arrested on Thursday after Ms Bora's family filed a complaint with the police. "We suspect that she may have targeted Ms Bora for personal reasons," Mr Mahanta said.

Nearly 90 people, mostly women, have been beheaded, burnt alive or stabbed to death after such accusations over the last five years.

Source:

LATEST RESULTS OF HOW BRITAIN DEALS WITH VICTIMS ACCUSED OF WITCHCRAFT HERE:

THE EVILS OF EXORCISM  

When another child is beaten to death will the staff of BBC's Everyman take their share of the responsibility for legitimising the Evil of Exorcism?

The BBC allows sectarian fundamentalist's full reign to promote their mediaeval claptrap under the cover of 'religious broadcasting (Everyman's The Exorcist, 9.00pm Wednesday 16th January 2002 : BBC2. ) .

Even though many innocent children and adults have been killed by exorcism.

Even though the Church of England is already aware of dangers like these:

• In 1990 A schoolgirl was torn to death after a 48 hour exorcism ritual when her mother tried to rip a non-existent foetus from the 11 year old after she became convinced the child had fallen pregnant by the Devil.
• 
  
• In August 1993 a religious group in Leeds was reported for trying to use exorcism as a specific to 'cure' epilepsy. Who knows how many epileptics suffered at their hands.
• 
  
• In 1994 Three people were convicted for the manslaughter of a 22 year old woman who was beaten, and kicked for three days in an exorcism to supposedly drive out the devil.
• 
  
• In 1996 A woman was killed after being jumped on after a minister had spent several days exorcising her trying to cast out demons. The 53 year old woman had originally complained of severe headaches and abdominal pains.
• 
  
• In 1997 a Harrow social worker took fundamentalist Christians into a woman's home to exorcise demons from her son who has a severe brain disorder.

THE GAWBER EXORCISM: 

Perhaps the most celebrated case, which caused the Church of England to completely revamp its rules,  was where a man who had been made insane through exorcism killed his wife by tearing her face apart until she choked to death on her own blood.

The killer was a member of a local church whose leaders  became convinced he was possessed. They subjec

ted him to a day and a night of exorcism. Under this maltreatment the man became violent and was then taken

to a Cof E vicar whose involvement only made things worse. The vicar eventually called in Methodist Ministers supposedly 'skilled' in exorcism to exorcise the man again. Twelve hours later when the 'exorcists' became mentally an

d physically exhausted, the man was told that 40 demons had been exorcised but the Spirit of Murder remained. Whereupon he was taken home to his poor wife. In a fit of insane violence brought on by the exorcism,  he murdered her with his bare hands.

This completely avoidable tragedy was a direct result of the exorcism. Exorcisms like the ones Everyman are causing to be legitimised. An expert witness, consultant psychologist Hugo Milne, was asked by the judge at the Gawber trial whether the exorcism had caused the man to kill. Mr Milne said :

"It was entirely related to his trance state and his eventual killing of his wife. It caused it.".

The judge accepted that view in his summing up and also made clear that the man had been a loving husband who had been exorcised into committing an unforgivable act of murder  completely out of character.  Incarcerating him in a mental institution the judge said he now had to live with the knowledge that he had deprived his three small children of their mother and father.  His defence counsel railed at the fact that the people who had caused the exorcism were not charged and made it clear that he thought they should be imprisoned with the husband as accessories.  

After the trial , which got nationwide publicity, the CofE published new guidelines and set up 'official' exorcists in each diocese. The idea of course was to intercept and control the mediaeval idiocities of  'maverick' vicars.  This can be clearly seen when, a year later, the Archbishop of Canterbury's office condemned impromptu exorcisms by a CofE vicar in a church near Gawber. The clergyman eventually resigned.

People's memories are very short and today the original intent behind those rules is being misrepresented by a new wave of exorcists.  What were restrictions are being passed off  as 'guidelines'  developed to cope with what they see as the 'increasing need for exorcisms'. A need which does not really exist but which is fuelled by irresponsible programs of this low calibre.

The 'star exorcist' of the Everyman program, Tom Willis, Ex CofE vicar, is plainly aware of the history and dangers of exorcism.  In 1996 Willis was quoted in a critical article in the CofE Church Times under the headline EXORCISM CAN BE DANGEROUS and which discussed the misuse of exorcism. Cannon Dominic Walker warned that exorcism is now being applied indiscriminately for any type of problem . He had discovered that victims of sexual abuse had been summarily exorcised. They had been despicably told 'if you've been abused then you are demonised'.

In defence of his own position Willis said

'I don't do many exorcisms of people, but I do about 30 or so exorcisms of buildings a year, ...a number of Clergy had performed exorcisms where psychological help might have been more appropriate. '

Willis omitted to define what situations were 'appropriate' for exorcisms nor how one would obtain skill in identifying them, but he did criticise the Church of England's 'guidelines' saying they were 'vague'.  

This measured response contrasts with a newspaper piece on 17th February 1995 where he was billed as an 'Occult Expert' and head of a training course for exorcists being held in Scarborough.  Regardless of the 'vagueness' of the CofE guidelines Willis had been able to train ten other CofE vicars in exorcism at this course. The course covered Hauntings, Poltergeists and finished with 'Occult Practices and Oppression'; all key motifs of the Christian Fundamentalists' war wagon.

Indeed, when Sue Macgregor did a piece on it for Radio 4 she countered that doctors and psychotherapists said that those who thought they were demon-possessed needed medical treatment.  Not neccessarily so, said the Reverend Kevin Logan.  Logan had been a main-player in the Satanic Ritual Abuse Panic of the 1980s. Famous (amongst other things), for claiming that 86% of children had suffered some occult 'oppression' and for  blessing children (who had supposedly suffered from satanic contamination ) on camera for that appallingly unprofessional Cook Report program The Devil's Work, which created most of the Satanic Panic.  Logan said there was a war going on, that the church needs to be able to cope and learn the 'strategies of the enemy'. Doctors have their place but so do ministers. '

Then in Woman's Realm a star exorcee Muriel Scorah explains how Willis exorcised her from.... Spiritualism.  Now Spiritualism may appear eccentric to some, but it is actually a form of the Christian religion. Spiritualists go to church, pray to God and hail Jesus as The Messiah.  Here we have another indicator of the inability of exorcists to define what may and what may not require exorcising. Everyman are irresponsibly pushing the drama of Exorcism but  many of the people whom they are celebrating clearly have an agenda of intolerance for alternative beliefs.  

Tom Willis said he was 'concerned about the growth of Satanic Groups'.  We must remind our readers that Mr Willis was one of those Christian activists who believed in the since disproven idea of Satanic Ritual Abuse. He appeared in numerous sensational newspaper articles which claimed that it existed.

The burgeoning use of mass exorcisms in fundamentalist churches is a danger to vulnerable adults and children yet the orthodox churches will not address the problem and the police avoid criticising the black community at any cost.  Click on the image right to see a clip from a programme which filmed what goes on inside one of these evangelistic churches in London.  You will be astonished at the mass hysteria and mass hypnosis going on.

Just as in the case of the poor Gawber woman who had her face clawed to shreds by a loving husband made insane by exorcism, memories of the nationwide panic over the myth of Satanic Ritual Abuse (and the 86 children who had their lives destroyed by misguided action by the authorities ) have also faded sufficiently  from public view to allow opportunists at Everyman to peddle this poison yet again.

The situation wouldn't be so dangerous if self-styled exorcists weren't pro-active but they are VERY active. Exorcism can be clearly seen as a form of missionary activity. The Christian Counsellor magazine, the journal of the Waverly College, was at the forefront of promoting the idea of having 'counsellors' on tap after every traumatic incident. The College even set some of the benchmarks for the national qualifications for 'counselling', yet in 1992 it published a major article serialised over four consecutive issues concerning Exorcism as an adjunct to Counselling. Here we have a clear example of the recruitment of Christian activists to minister to people who are emotionally vulnerable under the guise of psychological counselling. Who knows how many poor children and adults have been abused and sought help from 'counsellors' only to be abused yet again in exorcism ceremonies of one kind or another.

Perhaps the most appalling thing about  BBC's Everyman is it's cultural and moral blindness. Their view of society is imperialistic and simplistic. They may acknowledge the token Sikh, Moslem or Buddhist but appear to think that everyone else is a nominal Christian. Of what use is a program on Christian Exorcism to Jews, Buddhists, Moslems, Atheists, Pagans or Voodooists? Are we to assume that non-Christians are immune to these supposed demons, or will the Christian exorcists interfere with adherents of non Christian beliefs as well?

The ultimate justification for this program is the usual ,unspecified, supposed threat of ''evil' for which no proof has ever been offered. In contradistinction we have the pile of documentary evidence proving the extensive  and terrible harm exorcism can do.  It is mediaeval superstition of the worst kind.  This program should not have been commissioned and questions should be asked as to why it was. It will undoubtedly be used by the new wave of exorcists as 'further proof' of the need for more exorcisms - until another Gawber case explodes across the headlines and the promoters of the barmy idea slip silently out of view again.  This program will definitely result in a glut of vulnerable people rushing to be exorcised. If recent history is anything to go by a proportion of them will incur unnecessary suffering in the future and maybe even die in the process. The fault for that will lie partly at the door of Everyman.  

Ends.

John Freedom, Mortlake 16 January 2002

FANATICAL CATHOLIC EXORCISTS SECTION: Or, How the Vatican hides it's Sins by projecting Blame onto the Scapegoat of Satanism! It's Not Just The Loonies In The Fringes of Christianity who are doing it ....... From The Times: March 11, 2010 Chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth says Devil is in the Vatican Richard Owen in Rome Sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church are proof that that "the Devil is at work inside the Vatican", according to the Holy See's chief exorcist. Father Gabriele Amorth, 85, who has been the Vatican's chief exorcist for 25 years and says he has dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic possession, said that the consequences of satanic infiltration included power struggles at the Vatican as well as "cardinals who do not believe in Jesus, and bishops who are linked to the Demon". Father Amorth, who has just published Memoirs of an Exorcist, a series of interviews with the Vatican journalist Marco Tosatti, said that the attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II in 1981 had been the work of the Devil, as had an incident last Christmas when a mentally disturbed woman threw herself at Pope Benedict XVI at the start of Midnight Mass, pulling him to the ground. Father Amorth told La Repubblica that the devil was "pure spirit, invisible. But he manifests himself with blasphemies and afflictions in the person he possesses. He can remain hidden, or speak in different languages, transform himself or appear to be agreeable. At times he makes fun of me."   He said it sometimes took six or seven of his assistants to to hold down a possessed person. Those possessed often yelled and screamed and spat out nails or pieces of glass, which he kept in a bag. "Anything can come out of their mouths – finger-length pieces of iron, but also rose petals." He said that hoped every diocese would eventually have a resident exorcist. Under Church Canon Law any priest can perform exorcisms, but in practice they are carried out by a chosen few trained in the rites. Father Amorth was ordained in 1954 and became an official exorcist in 1986. In the past he has suggested that Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were possessed by the Devil. He was among Vatican officials who warned that J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels made a "false distinction between black and white magic". He approves, however, of the 1973 film The Exorcist, which although "exaggerated" offered a "substantially exact" picture of possession.  In 2001 he objected to the introduction of a new version of the exorcism rite, complaining that it dropped centuries-old prayers and was "a blunt sword" about which exorcists themselves had not been consulted. The Vatican said later that he and other exorcists could continue to use the old ritual. He is the president of honour of the Association of Exorcists. Source: "Do you know what I would do if I was the Pope for a moment?" Amorth asked. "I would provide every opportunity for exorcisms. Like the Orthodox Church. There you do not need the permission of a bishop." Source: BUCHAREST, Romania, January 31st 2008 — A priest began a seven-year jail term Wednesday for murdering a young nun during an exorcism ritual when she was bound, chained to a cross and denied food and water for days.  Irina Cornici, 23, died from dehydration, exhaustion and suffocation during an ordeal that stunned Romania and prompted the Orthodox Church to promise reforms and psychological tests to screen potential clergy. who had previously been treated for schizophrenia, had believed she heard the devil talking to her Cornici, .... Vatican Exorcist Orders Four Adults to Hold Down Children During Exorcisms Father Amorth has previously said that people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron and have such superhuman strength that even children have to be held down by up to four people. Source: ... And when one of them dies how many adults will it take to carry the poor child's coffin? NEW POPE EXORCISES MAN IN PLAIN VIEW According to TV2000, a Catholic television channel, the act was carried out in St Peter's Square after Mass on Sunday. Smiling broadly, the Pope initially shook the man's hand, but the South American pontiff's expression changed dramatically after a priest from the Legionaries of Christ, a conservative order, leaned in close and spoke a few words to him.   With a more serious expression on his face, Francis placed both hands on the man's head for 15 seconds.  The pilgrim, said to be a 43-year old married man from Mexico called Angelo, then convulsed briefly and emitted a long sigh. His body went limp and his mouth dropped open. "Exorcists who have seen the footage have no doubt – this was a prayer for liberation from Evil, an actual exorcism," said TV2000, which is owned by the Italian Bishops Conference. Source: Daily Telegraph: Thousands of Cases of Child Abuse by Priests and What Do These Pious Clergymen do?  Blame it On Satan and demand more Exorcisms! Surge in Satanism sparks rise in demand for Exorcists, says Catholic Church A surge in Satanism fuelled by the internet has led to a sharp rise in the demand for exorcists, the Roman Catholic Church has warned. There's the lie!  Another Media 'Un-fact' dutifully trotted out by Nick Squires to wipe the minds of the British Public with age-old lies.  There is no evidence of a surge in organised Satanism, but the British media never challenge anything a priest says.   Vatican Exorcists see Satanism everywhere of course, in Art, Music, Books, Poetry etc.  What they call Satanism most ordinary people call Freedom of  Choice, but the media sucker in to the old one-two every time, as Squires has here:  Let's blame it on anyone except the Priests eh?  Can't they blame it on the Natives?  No, that's too racist. Can't they blame it on the Jews?  No, that's too sectarian. Can they blame it on Islam? No, that's too dangerous!  Can they blame it on the Cathars, or How about the Hugenots?  Nope, they already killed hundreds of thousands of them, there's nobody left to blame there.  Tell you what! Let's blame it on an invented pan-global  network of Satanists, the idiot British Media will always fall for that one eh? By Nick Squires, in Rome The web has made it easier than ever before to access information on Devil-worshipping and the occult, experts said. [Ed: But isn't that just  freedom of speech?  Isn't it also true that the web has made access to religious tracts and teachings just as easy, or in fact easier? So the balance in favour of churchianity remains biased towards them and not Satanism.  Are sectarian priests really 'experts' in the occult? Or could they just be lying to serve their own ends as they have done since time immemorial? ] Exorcism is the subject of a six-day conference being held this week at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome, which is under the Vatican's authority. "The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism," said Carlo Climati, a member of the university who specialises in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism.   "In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism. The conference is not about how to become an exorcist. It's to share information about exorcism, Satanism and sects. It's to give help to families and priests. There is a particular risk for young people who are in difficulties or who are emotionally fragile," said Mr Climati. [Ed: WHAT ABJECT CHEEK!  Only two decades after the biggest moral panic in the world's history (Satanic Ritual Child Abuse) which was a complete falsity stemming from Christian activists over-sensitively portraying modern culture as Satanic as Climati is doing here, and they are at it again massaging the fears of the populace over the very same threats to children.  This website shows how these evil people consistently return to these motifs and create moral panics from which they evilly benefit. And here, again, the British Media cannot resist greasing the launchways for them.  Nick Squires shows his Christian bias by printing this nonsense without mentioning the ongoing problem of thousands upon thousands of documented cases of children being abused by  Catholic Priests across the world which just about brought the Vatican to it's knees morally and financially (see here).  What a pity their self-fulfilling conference didn't spend a little time addressing that real and continuing problem instead of inventing a false one about Satanism.] The object of seminars was to scrutinise the phenomenon of Satanism with "seriousness and scientific rigour", avoiding a "superficial or sensational approach", he said.  The conference in Rome has brought together more than 60 Catholic clergy as well as doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers and youth workers to discuss how to combat the dangers of Devil-worship. Organisers say the rise of Satanism has been dangerously underestimated in recent years. "There's been a revival," said Gabriele Nanni, a former exorcist and another speaker at the course. [Ed, anyone who has read the text of the Malleus Maleficarum which was the ancient Vatican manual used to identify and define 'Satanism' historically will be struck by the obvious conclusion that completely innocent people were terribly tortured, maimed, raped, and then burned to death whilst alive and screaming because Priests like Nanni pushed the same sectarian scares in the 14c. You can download and read the full unexpurgated text of  the Malleus Maleficarum (the Hammer of The Witches) here. Do it before you suck-in even one iota of these false allegations so that twisted minds on the make cannot gain power over your thought processes. In theory, any priest can perform an exorcism  a rite involving prayers to drive the Devil out of the person said to be possessed.   But Vatican officials said three years ago that parish priests should call in professional exorcists if they suspect one of their parishioners needs purging of evil. An exorcist should be called when "the moral certainty has been reached that the person is possessed", said Father Nanni, a member of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.  That could be indicated by radical and disturbing changes in the person's behaviour and voice, or an ability to garble in foreign languages or nonsensical gibberish.  [Ed: It could also denote severe and dangerous mental illness which require proper medical treatment - looks like the Vatican coffers will be wasted on more damages claims in a few years when priestly experimental exorcism kills a few more victims. But what does the death of so many mentally disturbed people matter to Nick Squire, he can always omit challenging the priests about how they distinguish between someone who is mentally ill and someone who is possessed by the devil. No need to bother with uncomfortable questions like that, after all the priests are in full-flow and we don't want to upset them do we. ] While the number of genuine cases of possession by the Devil remained relatively small, "we must be on guard because occult and Satanist practices are spreading a great deal, in part with the help of the internet and new technologies that make it easier to access these rituals," he said. [Ed: have you noticed how the appeals for the urgent need for something to be done and the 'estimated threat' to children from the internet are uncannilly similar here to the recent claims made about threats to children from surfing adult netporn?  If the priests really did want to protect children from danger they would of course begin with the endemic problem of child sexual abuse within their own ranks.  Could it simply be that that they are seizing the moral high-ground in order to reimpose puritanical sexual oppression by depriving adults of freedom of choice? ]   The Vatican's chief exorcist claimed last year that the Devil lurked in the Vatican, the very heart of the Catholic Church. Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron, scream, dribble and slobber, utter blasphemies and have to be physically restrained.  He claimed that the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries, were proof that the anti-Christ was waging a war against the Holy See. He said Pope Benedict XVI believed "wholeheartedly" in the practice of exorcism.    [Ed: There we have it, the Vatican punch-line. Their answer to the consistent abuse of tens of thousands of little children by priests whom they protected from prosecution is not to promise to hand the abusers over to the police when they are caught but to blame it all on satan instead!   And Idiot Nick Squires  blithely trots this appalling defence out for them aiding and abetting the further abuse of children whose priestly abusers have not yet been caught!  And so the wheel turns.  ] Source: Daily Telegraph:

Pope Francis Sanctions Mass Exorcism Push By Anthony Faiola, The Devil. After his little more than a year atop the Throne of St. Peter, pope Francis’s teachings on Satan are already regarded as the most old school of any pontif since at least Paul VI, whose papacy in the 1960s and 1970s fully embraced the notion of hellish forces plotting to deliver mankind unto damnation. Largely under the radar, theologians and Vatican insiders say, Francis has not only dwelled far more on Satan in sermons and speeches than his recent predecessors have, but also sought to rekindle the Devil’s image as a supernatural entity with the forces­ of evil at his beck and call. Last year, for instance, Francis laid hands on a man in a wheelchair who claimed to be possessed by demons, in what many saw as an impromptu act of cleansing. A few months later, he praised a group long viewed by some as the crazy uncles of the Roman Catholic Church the International Association of Exorcists for helping people who suffer and are in need of liberation. ‘But Father, how old-fashioned you are to speak about the Devil in the 21st century,’ Francis, quoting those who have noted his frequent mentions of the Devil, said last month while presiding over Mass at the Vatican’s chapel in St. Martha’s House. He warned those gathered on that chilly morning to be vigilant and not be fooled by the hidden face of Satan in the modern world. Look out because the Devil is present, he said. Since its foundation, the church has taught the existence of the Devil. But in recent decades, progressive priests and bishops, particularly in the United States and Western Europe, have tended to couch Satan in more allegorical terms. Evil became less the wicked plan of the master of hell than the nasty byproduct of humanity’s free will. Even Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a lofty German theologian, often painted evil with a broad brush. Enter the plain-talking first pope from Latin America, where mystical views of Satan still hold sway in broad areas of the region. During his time as cardinal of Buenos Aires before rising to the papacy, Francis was known for stark warnings against the tempter and the father of lies. Now, his focus on the Devil is raising eyebrows even within the normally unquestioning walls of Vatican City. Pope Francis never stops talking about the Devil; it’s constant, said one senior bishop in Vatican City who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely. Had Pope Benedict done this, the media would have clobbered him. Yet, as with so many of his actions, Francis may simply be correctly reading the winds of the Catholic Church. Rising demand for exorcists Although it is difficult to measure, Vatican officials talk about a resurgence of mystical rites in the church, including exorcism or the alleged act of evicting demons from a living host. Cardinals in Milan; Turin, Italy; and Madrid, for instance, recently moved to expand the number of exorcists in their dioceses to cope with what they have categorized as surging demand. But by focusing on old-school interpretations of the Devil, some progressive theologians complain, the pope is undermining his reputation as a leader who in so many other ways appears to be more in step with modern society than his predecessor. “He is opening the door to superstition, said Vito Mancuso, a Catholic theologian and writer. Among the things lurking behind that door is the alleged gateway to hell guarded by the small cluster of officially anointed exorcists of the Roman Catholic Church. By most accounts, the ranks of official exorcists number between 500 and 600 in a global church of more than 1 billion Catholics, with the vast majority operating in Latin America and Eastern Europe. This week, at the ninth and largest Vatican-sanctioned convention on exorcism, attendees gushed about the fresh recognition being afforded the field. Almost 200 delegates most of them priests and nuns from more than two dozen nations talked about how Satanic cults are spreading like wildfire in the age of the Internet. The new pope, exorcists say, has become their champion in the face of modern skeptics, many of them within the Catholic faith. Officially, those claiming to be possessed must first undergo psychiatric evaluations. But exorcists say that liberal Catholic bishops have often rejected their services even after such due diligence. The sad truth is that there are many bishops and priests in our church who do not really believe in the Devil, said the Rev. Gabriele Amorth, the 89-year-old priest who is perhaps the closest thing the church has to a Hollywood-style exorcist. I believe Pope Francis is speaking to them. Because when you don’t believe, the Devil wins. During the conference, the Rev. Cesar Truqui, an exorcist based in Switzerland, recounted one experience he had aboard a Swissair flight. Two lesbians, he said, had sat behind him on the plane. Soon afterward, he said, he felt Satan’s presence. As he silently sought to repel the evil spirit through prayer, one of the women, he said, began growling demonically and threw chocolates at his head. Asked how he knew the woman was possessed, he said that once you hear a Satanic growl, you never forget it. It’s like smelling Margherita pizza for the first time. It’s something you never forget. From his small room in a south Rome rectory fitted with a hospital bed, Amorth praised Francis for so fully embracing the biblical notion of the Devil as the personified overlord of hell. Unlike in the movies, he said, the process of driving demons out typically takes multiple sessions over many years. An exorcist in action In a rare glimpse of an official exorcism last week, in a white-tiled room outfitted with images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, Amorth wrapped his purple sash around a Neapolitan housewife in her 40s who said she was afflicted by multiple demons. He then began chanting in Latin, commanding the devils inside her to reveal themselves. Tell me your name! he demanded. No, no, hissed the woman, shaking her head and speaking in an altered voice as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. I will not! Tell me your name! he kept repeating, until finally she spat out, Asmodeus, the name of an ancient demon and hellish spokesman. How many are you? he yelled, repeating the question as she grunted and shook her head violently. Finally, she defiantly said, We are five! After his bout with the demons, the diminutive Amorth simply shrugged. That, he said, was a light one. Following the session, the woman and her husband, who gave their names only as Antonella and Michele, said they had been going through a living hell for years. They had begged bishops to authorize an exorcism when Antonella began having uncontrollable fits after receiving Holy Communion and became violent around religious prayers. But they were repeatedly denied. It was only after they were referred to Amorth and began sessions four years ago, Antonella said, that her condition finally began to improve. The Devil exists, and thanks to this treatment, I have gotten back my faith, she said. I think Pope Francis is telling us it’s okay to believe. Source: Catholic Church Sets Up Exorcism Hotline: Who You Gonna Call When The People Start Dying? The Catholic Church has established an exorcist hotline in Milan, its biggest diocese, to cope with demand. Monsignor Angelo Mascheroni, the diocese’s chief exorcist since 1995, said the curia had also appointed twice as many exorcists to cope with a doubling in the number of requests for help over 15 years. 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. And to that end, the number of demon-busting priests on call has increased from six to 12. The Monsignor said he knew of one exorcist who had been seeing up to 120 people a day. But with so little time per client he was only able to offer a quick blessing. That’s not enough, he said. There should be two to four appointments a day, no more, otherwise it’s too much. It’s not clear why the number of suspected possessions has risen so sharply. But Monsignor Mascheroni said that part of the increase might be explained by the rising numbers of parents having difficulty controlling disobedient teenagers. Not all Catholic exorcists take such a pragmatic approach, however. Father Gabriele Amorth, who was the Vatican’s chief exorcist for 25 years, claims to have dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic possession. Father Amorth said that sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church were proof that the Devil is at work inside the Vatican. He also claimed that satanic behaviour lay behind Vatican attempts to cover up the deaths of Alois Estermann, then commander of the Swiss Guard, his wife and another Swiss Guard, Corporal Cedric Tornay, in 1998. Father Amorth also took a dim view of fantasy novels and yoga. Practising the latter, he once warned, was satanic; it leads to evil just like reading Harry Potter. Friday 30 November 2012: Source: More Deaths In The Offing As Nutter Exorcists Line Up To Do Battle With Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll Mentally Ill Will Fall Into Their Clutches Instead of Getting Medical Aid The Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance,is sponsoring a special Conference on Exorcism, to be held in Baltimore in early November 2010. The conference will address not only the theological and scriptural foundations of the Rite of Exorcism but it will also provide the necessary, practical insights into the many liturgical, canonical and pastoral issues associated with exorcisms and the Church’s battle against the demonic presence in the world and the lives of the Christian faithful.   The first afternoon session will focus on the phenomenon of evil in contemporary culture; and responses and resources available to address the presence of evil, particularly through the use of exorcism. Source: The dreaded Malleus Maleficarum - The Treatise Which formalised the Vatican's View of  Possession and Devils,  and influences it even today as satan-hunter Amorth's irrational attitude proves. The 15c Malleus Maleficarum was authorised by the papacy and caused the deaths of millions of innocent people, usually women.  Because idiot politicians and opportunist charities are backing this new 'moral imperative' more of those deaths are likely to occur again. You can see how it happened before and get an insight into this disgusting church book and how it is even today influencing and promoting misogynist attitudes;  by going here. And it isn't just Catholic priests  who are going bonkers! Look at this! Archbishop of York Demands Exorcism on The NHS? Latest Evangelical Move To Hijack NHS bill parroted by BBC (British Broadcasting Christians) as Though Necessary. See here for full details:   Exorcism seminar draws in crowd of hundreds A conference on evil and the unknown compelled hundreds to gather at a weekday presentation offered by the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo.   About 700 individuals from all over West Texas traveled to San Angelo Monday for a seminar on exorcism and diabolical influence.      "It's one of the best presentations we've ever had," said Bishop Michael Pfeifer with the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo. "It's something very, very unique. The people were enthralled, and they had so many questions to ask."   The seminar was led by the Rev. Dennis McManus, whose appointed ministry with the Archdiocese of New York is exorcism. Priests, deacons and lay people attended the free and public presentation Monday; the seminar then was extended for clergy throughout Tuesday and Wednesday morning.   Exorcism has been portrayed in movies for decades, usually with only a bit of truth, according to the bishop. The issue of dealing with the devil is represented throughout the Bible, Peifer said. He cited the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which Pfeifer refers to as the original sin, and Jesus's own confrontations with the devil. One of the powers Jesus gave his disciples was the power to cast out devils, Pfeifer added.   "Over the centuries, ritual books have been prepared by the churches to be used in exorcisms and dealing with diabolical influence," Pfeifer said. Different forms of that influence include obsession, such as with sex, drugs or alcohol; posession, which commonly is referred to as the haunting of places or things; and the most critical case of possession, when the devil takes over a person. Possession is usually the stage that requires a major exorcism.   "It's a very frightening and difficult experience," Pfeifer said. Though he said he has participated in exorcisms in West Texas, he would not disclose the number of cases or details about the experiences. Ritual prayers and sacraments such as holy water are used, he said.   Pfeifer said he believes there is demonic influence in West Texas manifested through cults and Satan worship, but more so through secular things in the world that can be used for good, such as the Internet. He listed voodoo as a type of possible cult, but said it wasn't very prevalent in West Texas.   Every baptized Catholic has gone through a simple form of an exorcism, Pfeifer said. One of the prayers a priest uses while baptising a person is to free him or her from the evil influence of the devil and put the person under the care of Jesus. This is because of original sin, which Pfeifer said all Catholics believe carries on throughout the human race.    "We're not born into a perfect state," Pfeifer said. "We're born into a state that's been tainted by sin."   Priests receive the power of exorcism when they are ordained, but cannot perform an actual exorcism without the bishop's permission. Someone who is believed to be possessed must go through physical and psychological checkups, and show signs of supernatural power or be speaking in tongues, according to the Rev. Frank Chavez of San Miguel de Archangel Catholic Church. Chavez, who said he found the event informative, said he never has participated in an exorcism and doesn't anticipate facing such an experience in his life.   "Am I being cynical? No, I don't think so," he said. "There's a lot of things that are unexplained in this world that you can't laugh at or throw under the rug that someone's going through."   Chavez has been approached by congregation members and others who have visited curaderos, or folk healers, or heard from friends that they are possessed. He often helps people who have demonic influence in the form of obsessions by praying and giving advice, he said.   "What we have to do with them is hear their stories and make a judgment," he said.     Source

MORE AVOIDABLE CASES OF RELIGIOUS KILLING OF CHILDREN!
S.A.F.F. PROPHESIES COME TERRIBLY TRUE

It's happening world-wide. Look at this: www.saff.org.uk/witchild.htm and weep!

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: Christian Agent Provocateurs Use Hollywood To Damage More People's Minds Faith takes center stage in 'Exorcist' play Jul. 27, 2012 :  By Angela Aleiss, Religion News Service LOS ANGELES -- Mention the word "exorcism" to most people, and you get descriptions of levitating bodies, spinning heads, oozing green bile and hissing serpentine tongues. But don't expect to see these eye-popping visual effects in this summer's stage version of "The Exorcist" at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Instead, the production will have "minimal" special effects, according to playwright John Pielmeier, who adapted William Peter Blatty's best-selling 1971 novel for the stage. Pielmeier says that his version needs no spinning heads or green bile. Instead, there will be a simple set with a minimal cast. And rather than revolve around a young girl's demonic possession, the story will focus upon a series of clever debates between the demon and the priests. "The fact that the devil can lie and loves to lie is a great toy for a dramatist to deal with," he says. "I think the irony of how Satan functions in this piece is delicious." The "Exorcist" story of a young girl's demonic possession and the Catholic priests who try to save her became a box-office hit when the movie was first released in 1973 and later spawned two sequels as well as two prequels. There was even an "Exorcist" parody in 1990. Pielmeier, the 63-year-old playwright and author of both the stage and screen versions of "Agnes of God," describes himself as "a rather confused ex-Catholic" who wrote this play as a way of working out his own religious conflicts. Catholicism "is still with me," he explains. "I was raised in a very devout family and was a very devout child. And it doesn't go away." He says "The Exorcist" is for doubters and nonbelievers who might initially scoff at the idea of demonic possession. Fr. Gary Thomas, a Vatican-certified exorcist and the real-life counterpart to the Colin O'Donoghue character in last year's film "The Rite," agreed that exorcisms can be a reaffirmation of a person's faith in God. "For a nonbeliever, I would say there's great conversion. For a believer, it can be an affirmation of what they already believe," he said. Pielmeier also points out how the story of "The Exorcist" is relevant today. "I think the piece is very much about terrorism," he explains. "I think the devil is a terrorist. That's a line in the play. The devil functions as a terrorist by disseminating fear and doubt. His power comes from making us afraid and from instilling doubt and despair in us." Source: "The fact that the devil can lie and loves to lie is a great toy for a dramatist to deal with," The Devil can lie and loves to lie, says the director Pielmeier - but he fails to mention that ordained priests are liars of an equal magnitude. They have lied and cheated for decades in order to hide an estimated 40,000 child-abusing priests within their ranks. Current cases show that many of their child victims were being abused whilst Blatty was writing his novel! Pielmeier leaves everyone wondering whether he is speaking metaphorically or whether he really does believe in the existence of a praeter-human entity called The Devil? Is this another media Catholic in mid-life crisis trying to featherbed his credits-for-heaven just in case all that Hellfire and Damnation turns out to be true? The SAFF sincerely hopes that Pielmeier is not using popular culture to disguise a sectarian attempt to re-popularse belief in the exorcism rite which has caused so many deaths of children and adults over the years since the Exorcist film was first broadcast in 1973 Although the Catholic Church was up in arms over The Exorcist when it was first shown (including massive protests outside cinemas screening it throughout the U.S. and the U.K.) they soon discovered that it actually put the frighteners on nominal Catholics and brought many of them who were having strange times back to the fold by blaming life's vicissitudes on...The Devil. Is this story of the aeonic battle with evil just another attempt to draw the faithfull's attention away from 40,000 child abusing priests? Well, as Hollywood insiders always say "There's no such thing as bad publicity". Hollywood knows that 'Good Box Office' is something innocents often have to foot the bill for. Ask the maimed survivors of the Colorado Batman Cinema Shootimg whether the new Batman Film got publicity the movie's makers couldn't buy? Then ask how many semi-unhinged fundamentalists will see Pielmeier's play as confirmation of the existence of possession and later feel justified in beating the life out of a toddler whilst Pielmeier indulges himself in arty-crafty nonsense elsewhere? The point is, Pielmeier, Blatty himself is on record as saying that he doesn't believe in the existence of the Devil - his book was not a documentary, it was a novel you feckless idiot. Why are we so angry at this new production? Because the original Exorcist book and film is about the enforced exorcism of a pre-pubescent child and this production comes at a time when the torture and killing of children in exorcism ceremonies has reached epidemic proportions world-wide. Pielmeier has apparently done little or no research into his subject and is seemingly totally ignorant of these dangers. He made many changes to the original story to suit himself and production limitations Instances of society's campaign to stop child abuse is everywhere and in everyone's mind - why didn't Pielmeier change the possessed character to an adult as a precaution? Pielmeier says that the crux of his version is the dialogue between the devil and the priest. If that is the case then changing the possessed character from a child to an adult might have improved the dialectic, but being irresponsible Pielmeier still retains the child's involvement, presumably for the shock-horror value. On one hand the media produces a cacophony of articles demanding society deal with child-abuse, and on the other it produces plays like this which promote it.

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