Chief exorcist says the Devil is in Vatican

Blackleaf

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The Vatican's chief exorcist says that the Devil is lurking at the very heart of the Roman Catholic Church and that he has been attacking the Holy See.

Father Gabriele Amorth, who believes people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron, says that the Christmas Eve assault on the Pope and the sex scandals which have engulfed the Catholic Church are proof that Satan is waging a war against the Catholic Church.

The Pope is to make a rare visit to Protestant Britain later this year, for the first time since 1982, despite the fact that England got rid of the Pope's authority over its church in 1534.

Chief exorcist says Devil is in Vatican

By Nick Squires in Rome
11 Mar 2010
The Telegraph


St. Peter's Square in the Vatican Photo: REUTERS


A scene from the 1973 hit film The Exorcist

The Devil is lurking in the very heart of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican's chief exorcist claimed on Wednesday.

Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron.

He added that the assault on Pope Benedict XVI on Christmas Eve by a mentally unstable woman and 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.

"The Devil resides in the Vatican and you can see the consequences," said Father Amorth, 85, who has been the Holy See's chief exorcist for 25 years.

"He can remain hidden, or speak in different languages, or even appear to be sympathetic. At times he makes fun of me. But I'm a man who is happy in his work."



While there was "resistance and mistrust" towards the concept of exorcism among some Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI has no such doubts, Father Amorth said. "His Holiness believes wholeheartedly in the practice of exorcism. He has encouraged and praised our work," he added.

The evil influence of Satan was evident in the highest ranks of the Catholic hierarchy, with "cardinals who do not believe in Jesus and bishops who are linked to the demon," Father Amorth said.

In a rare insight into the world of exorcism, the Italian priest told La Repubblica newspaper that the 1973 film The Exorcist gave a "substantially exact" impression of what it was like to be possessed by the Devil.

People possessed by evil sometimes had to be physically restrained by half a dozen people while they were exorcised. They would scream, utter blasphemies and spit out sharp objects, he said.

"From their mouths, anything can come out – pieces of iron as long as a finger, but also rose petals," said Father Amorth, who claims to have performed 70,000 exorcisms. "When the possessed dribble and slobber, and need cleaning up, I do that too. Seeing people vomit doesn't bother me. The exorcist has one principal duty - to free human beings from the fear of the Devil."

The attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II by a Turkish gunman in 1981 and recent revelations of "violence and paedophilia" committed by Catholic priests against children in their care was also the work of the Devil, said Father Amorth, who has written a book about his vocation, Memoirs of an Exorcist, which was published recently.



Father Amorth, who is the president of the Association of Exorcists and fought as a partisan during the war, has previously claimed that both Hitler and Stalin were possessed by the Devil.

In an interview with Vatican Radio in 2006, he said: "Of course the Devil exists and he can not only possess a single person but also groups and entire populations.

"I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler and Stalin did."

He also condemned the Harry Potter books, saying they were dangerous because they dabbled in the occult and failed to draw a clear distinction between "the Satanic art" of black magic and benevolent white magic.

telegraph.co.uk
 

AnnaG

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roflmao
For some reason or other, I think they have nothing to fear. I don't the the "Devil" has any more interest in humans than gods do.
 

Cliffy

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roflmao
For some reason or other, I think they have nothing to fear. I don't the the "Devil" has any more interest in humans than gods do.
Satan is alive and doing well in Christianity. The more attention people give something the more real it becomes (at least in their lives). Those who don't believe have nothing to fear. (... waits patiently for more quotes from the book of fiction.)
 

AnnaG

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Satan is alive and doing well in Christianity. The more attention people give something the more real it becomes (at least in their lives). Those who don't believe have nothing to fear. (... waits patiently for more quotes from the book of fiction.)
People's own worst enemy is themselves, I agree but I'm in the habit of calling a spade a spade so people are people and not satans.
 

Spade

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An internet witch's spell to remove warts:
"Get a one small pea, touch the wart with the pea, fold it in a paper and bury it in moist ground, I repeat MOIST GROUND. As the pea rots, so the wart will go away."

I have just printed off Blackleaf's OP. Does anyone have a pea?
 

AnnaG

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An internet witch's spell to remove warts:
"Get a one small pea, touch the wart with the pea, fold it in a paper and bury it in moist ground, I repeat MOIST GROUND. As the pea rots, so the wart will go away."

I have just printed off Blackleaf's OP. Does anyone have a pea?
Here's a handful:
 

Cliffy

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In the Last Whole Earth Catalogue there was a small piece called "How I got rid of Planters Warts with Voodoo and a Swiss army knife." The guy claims he dug at them with his knife while telling them they were not wanted. Eventually they went away but they left small craters in his skin.
 

AnnaG

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In the Last Whole Earth Catalogue there was a small piece called "How I got rid of Planters Warts with Voodoo and a Swiss army knife." The guy claims he dug at them with his knife while telling them they were not wanted. Eventually they did but they left small craters in his skin.
Not surprised. Hubby has a small crater on the nail side of his thimb where a wart got ripped out by a part once when he was fixing the brakes on something. It bled like crazy but the wart never came back. lol
 

Spade

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Nov 18, 2008
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My dad took phosphorus from strike-anywhere matches, ground the phosphorus into his wart, and lit it. I still remember how he tried in vain to slap the small blue flame out swearing all the while. Great fun.
PS
It worked.
 

AnnaG

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Jul 5, 2009
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My dad took phosphorus from strike-anywhere matches, ground the phosphorus into his wart, and lit it. I still remember how he tried in vain to slap the small blue flame out swearing all the while. Great fun.
PS
It worked.
Accompanied by lots of yodeling, I would imagine. lol
 

Johnnny

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i tried picking out one of the warts on my finger, its on the side. Like will i have to literally dig almost to the bone to get it out, last time i tired i picked alot of it out but i didnt go down to the last layer.....