Pontifical University to Take on the Devil

Rise of interest in the occult cited

I always find it rather odd when good Christians are so willing to proclaim their belief in Christ, yet get squeamish when you ask about the existence of the devil.

If the 20th century teaches us anything, the devil most certainly exists. The rise of New Age beliefs, gnostic spirituality, and outright Satanic worship are all constant alarms that something is wrong.

Thankfully, there are certain corners of the world that understand this and are willing to do something about it:

A Vatican university said on Thursday it will hold a special ‘theoretical and practical’ course for Roman Catholic priests on Satanism and exorcism in response to what the Church says is a worrying interest in the occult, particularly among the young.

This year, Italy was gripped by the story of two teenage members of a heavy metal rock band called the ‘Beasts of Satan’ who were killed by other band members in a human sacrifice.

The deaths horrified Catholic Italy, with pages of newspapers given over to descriptions of the black candles and goats’ skulls decorating one victim’s bedroom and witness statements of sexual violence.

The Regina Apostolorum, one of Rome’s most prestigious pontifical universities, said in a statement that such episodes should be seen as an ‘alarm bell to take seriously a problem which is still far too underestimated.’

Interesting to note that the Diocese of Richmond has recently re-instituted the office of exorcist, a commonly found office within Catholic dioceses some years ago, but one that has slowly slipped away from more modern (and more likely secular) minds.