The University in the Vatican inaugurates a new exorcism course. The classes are intended for Catholic priests who want to engage in exorcism from possessed people
From: Haaretz, News and Voila! Courtesy of the Walla system
The University in the Vatican inaugurates a new exorcism course. The classes, intended for Catholic priests who want to engage in exorcism from possessed people, will include, among other things, a course in the history of Satan's actions and their context in the New Testament scriptures, as well as classes in psychology and law. Also, there will be seminars that will deal with the exorcism as a spiritual occupation and as part of the priest's role.
One of the lecturers in the course, Father Giulio Savoldi, has been the official exorcist of Milan for more than 20 years. During the time when he became an exorcist, no courses were taught on the subject, but he certainly knows what he intends to teach the students who wish to fight evil, and what qualities are required of those who wish to engage in exorcism. "I will include in the studies the supernatural power - the presence of God - and then I will argue that the person chosen to carry out this task will be wise, and will know how to gather power not only from himself but also from God," said Saboldi.
"Since every case of possession is unique, every possessed person is different from another. Those who study exorcism should also study psychology, and know how to differentiate between mental illness and possession. And finally, they have to be very patient," concludes the father.
In 1999, the Vatican published a manual for the use of exorcists, the first since 1614. The 90-page book is written entirely in Latin. The Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez, who oversaw its preparation, said that it is possible to find "a more considered language, but the basic structure remains as it was".
Although one could expect that these days exorcism would recede to the back of the Catholic mind, and despite the fact that most Catholic believers and theologians see it as complete nonsense, it is actually gaining popularity in certain circles - including the conservative circles that currently dominate the Vatican.
The church goes back to the 19th century
By John Cornwell London
At the same time as the stream of statements expressing sympathy with the elderly Pope John Paul II in view of his deteriorating health - there is an urgent discussion in Catholic circles, dealing with the dangers inherent in a weak papal institution. There was even talk of setting a retirement age by law and the need for a retirement mechanism.
Much of the concern is focused on the internal politics of a church, where the morals of power have been concentrated for the past two decades by the Pope. John Paul's failure to delegate real authority to his bishops, progressive Catholics argue, has weakened regional churches (meaning dioceses) and created a potentially dangerous governmental vacuum. The combination of this centralized power structure with the papacy's longevity and weakness had far-reaching consequences.
One of the most knowledgeable Vaticanologists, the late Peter Blathwaite, claimed back in 1994 that John Paul was already beginning to disappoint his church as a world religious leader. After contributing to the fall of Soviet communism in Poland, the Pope in the early 90s began criticizing capitalism, democracy and political pluralism. The Pope, whose heart was broken at the sight of the first products of Polish democracy (the Polish parliament supported the law allowing abortions in 1990), began to claim that the hedonism, materialism and secularism that he believed flooded his homeland, originated from American-style elections.
The grief over Poland's failure to become a source of Christian influence on the whole of Europe was expressed in two appeals ("calling") to the bishops: Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth), and Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), which examined the meaning of the concepts of freedom and truth in the light Papal social doctrine since the publication of Rerum Novarum (On New Things) by Pope Leo VIII a century earlier.
In the last declaration of the Second Vatican Council seeking reforms ("On Religious Freedom") in December 1965, the Catholic Church decided to champion the American model of separation between religion and state, emphasizing that freedom is an unconditional and indivisible right. The concept, according to which pluralism - the right of people to choose their values and beliefs - has a Christian basis, was new in the Catholic faith. Among the conservatives in the church, it caused discomfort from the beginning.
Between the beginning and middle of the 90s, Yohanan Paulus began to challenge the meaning of the council's declaration. We are free, he claimed, only to pursue the truth that has always been first in importance. And the truth, if we continue his argument, is the truth of the Catholic Church under the patronage of the Pope.
According to this view, pluralism is contrary to Catholic doctrine. Moreover, the duty of Catholics involved in public life is to try to adapt the civil law to the Catholic moral rules. In fact, the Pope rejected the Christian basis of pluralism and secularism contained in the declaration of America's founding fathers. He denounced pluralism as permissiveness and moral relativism. He returned to the situation that prevailed for most of the 19th century, when Pius IX defined freedom of conscience as a form of madness.
One result of this backward-looking innovation was a growing estrangement between the founders of New Europe and the ethics of Catholic doctrine. According to the European conception of the relationship between religion and state, supported by the majority of Catholics who do not belong to the ecclesiastical apparatus, the secular government protects the rights of individuals through the law. In the Pope's opinion, however, Catholics should try to enforce the rules of morality on the state. In view of the views that dominate the Vatican today on issues such as pregnancy and homosexuality - it is no wonder that the drafters of the new European constitution opposed adding a Christian dimension to its principles. But the Pope insists on believing that his failure to influence the constitution is a sign of the continent's deterioration into heresy and moral promiscuity.
And it is also related to the second major world religion that has a problem today: Islam. Yohanan Paulus believed that the task of Catholic social doctrine is to criticize the defects that characterize democracy, capitalism and globalization. However, the events of September 11 caused a profound change not only in the world, but in the way the world was seen from the Apostolic Palace. If the Pope had supported the Second Vatican Council's declaration on religious freedom instead of criticizing it - he could have played a powerful role: influencing Islam and supporting the development of pluralistic societies.
What actually happened is that John Paul helped convince Muslims that pluralistic societies, protected by secular states, do not like religions that succeed in thriving - just like the Muslim fundamentalists thought.
