February 19, 2005

Vatican offers exorcism courses. In 1999, the Vatican issued the first new exorcism ritual since 1614, so formal lessons make sense, I guess. I hope the exorcism students aren't paying much for their classes, though, since the rites are available on the Internet.

Didn't know there are actual exorcists running around doing actual exorcisms? There are. There's an official Vatican exorcist (there's an interview with him here). And it's not just Catholics. There are lots of stories of real exorcisms, though the one we're all most interested in is the story of the boy who inspired The Exorcist.

posted by HawthorneWingo 19 years ago
  • HW the first URL also contains one of them thar eggcorns ".../02/17/vatican.satinism.ap/". Neat coincidence. It's all just more evidence of JPII's deep conservatism. Silly old sod.
  • I must say, this is a very handy find. This "on-line" (sp?) world is really terribly cool. (Reads like sarcasm, but isn't.)
  • .
  • 1614, isn't that the last "official" year of the Spanish Inquisition, the Vatican's primary means of persecuting those who needed "exorcised"? My keen monkeysense smells poo.
  • 1614, isn't that the last "official" year of the Spanish Inquisition?
    Hardly. The Holy Office of the Inquisition was suppressed by Napoleon, but it was restored after the French withdrew. It lasted until 1831. It was popular in some quarters and politically powerful, even if loathsome in principle and corrupt in practice.
  • mrmojo, a monkey that smells poo is most likely to have sniffed its own butt :-) Check your facts.
  • My mom had me exorcised when I was three or so, no shit. Hmm, I'm starting to think I had a really messed-up childhood.
  • LordSludge, you gotta give us details after a line like that.
  • For it is the power of Christ that compels you Wow, I had no idea that line was for real... it's in there about 70% of the way down on the last FPP link .
  • Am I only the one here to have seriously considered pulling an L Ron Hubbard and making their own religon just make easy money? 1. Make crazy claims that are impossible to disprove 2. ... 3. PROFIT
  • A friend of mine was exorcised when he was about 20 or 22. He was Catholic, and now he's Protestant. Speaking of exorcism, I just saw Constantine. Totally immersing Rachel Weisz in water allows her to see the spirit world, and also allows you to see through her shirt. Nevertheless, the power of Christ compels me to give the movie only 3 stars out of 5.
  • I have one that's even easier. 1. Make crazy claims that are POSSIBLE to disprove 2. Name yourself the Flat Earth Society. 3. PROFIT
  • I used to have a Sundayschool teacher who worked at a rehab clinic where they believed people were addicted to drugs because they were demon possessed. I stopped going to that church.
  • Oh, and yeah, they had people exorcized at the rehab clinic. It was one of the main parts of their methods. And another woman from that church tried to pray the demons out of my mom once when she had bronchitis. I still self identify as Christian, but I got the heck away from the fundamentalists Baptists. Yeah.
  • "It lasted until 1831" Doesn't it still exist under a different name? I thought it did.
  • kmellis: there are two things, "The Holy Office of the Inquisition" and regional (later national) inquisitions. The Holy Office was responsible for overseeing inquisitions which were requested by temporal powers (even if the church did suggest them). The Spanish Inquisition was around until 1834 (the bill in the Cortes to abolish it was introduced in 1831 although it was effectively ended in 1820, so I was unclear twice. sorry...). It was one of the longest-lived and most notorious inquisitions. The "Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith" seems to have some of the same duties and was created with The Holy Office was re-orged. It has no national inquisitions to oversee and no longer even has the power to ban books. It's just not what it used to be.
  • Oh, and yeah, they had people exorcized at the rehab clinic. It was one of the main parts of their methods. And another woman from that church tried to pray the demons out of my mom once when she had bronchitis. So, if anyone ever tries this on my, I'm going to punch them in the face. If they really, really believe it, I can tell them the demons made me do it.
  • It's been proven that they only work if you fully immerse your hard drive in holy water.