Exorcist Stories---Wanted---I------Page No 02

from other exorcists: they all indicated an unconditional approval of the book. Then began the long series of reviews and interviews; television, radio, almost all the major periodicals, mostly secular. In 1991, Radio Maria, which reaches all of Italy,broadcast a series of discussions on the book, from February 12 to September 24, under the expert leadership of Father Livio. Needless to
say, this was the quickest way to spread word about the book and its contents. In addition, a great number of meetings, letters, and confer-ences had a role in bringing to the attention of a large audience what I had gradually discovered during my ministry as exorcist, that is: how great—and growing—is the demand for exorcists and also, unfortunately, how inadequate is the action and the preparation of the men of the Catholic Church. I will expand on these 2 topics in this introductory chapter.

     First: Why, today, is there such a high demand for exorcists? Can we make the case that the demon is more active today than in
the past? Can we say that the incidence of demonic possession and other, lesser, evil disturbances is on the rise? The answer to these and similar questions is a decisive Yes.

                 

Rationalism, atheism—which is preached to the masses—and the corruption that is a byproduct of Western consumerism have all contributed to a frightening decline in faith. This I can state with mathematical certainty: where faith declines, superstition grows.
The many factors that promote the present growth in superstition include movies, television, radio, and newspapers. The media
not only broadcast pornography, but also promote so-called magic: spiritism, the occult, oriental rituals. Certain kinds of mass
gatherings, tapes, and discos also disseminate subliminal messages, satanic rock, and more. 

Eventually, the police are called in to deal with the consequence of these excesses: crime. It is a well-known fact that the horoscope is the most widely read section of newspapers in the West. There is more: in Italy, we are all too familiar with two evils that are often tied to satanic rites—the legalization of abortion and the spread of illegal drugs. Finally, on October 31, 1991, the third penal section of the Italian Constitutional Court officially sanctioned the activity of fortune-tellers—as well as those dealing in graphology, astrology, and paranormal disciplines—as a legitimate source of income subject to taxation.

While estimates vary considerably, it isestimated that, as a result of the legalization of the above-cited "professions", more than 12 million Italians visit magicians, sorcerers, card readers, and so on, every year. This figure comes from the March 1991 Perugia congress,

Magic, New Religions, and the Esoteric in Italy.When we add the explosion of satanic sects, we can assert with confidence that Italian
citizens are not protected either by the State or by the men of the Church (see the following section of this chapter for a physicians
opinion).

I wish that those 12 million Italians, instead of approaching a magician, had visited a priest; unfortunately, they did not, because
the flame of their faith had been dimmed to a mere spark. According to a survey by ISPES [Instituto per la Promozione della Sviluppo
Economico e Sociale], commissioned by [the Italian Catholic magazines] Famiglia Cristiana and Jesus, only 34 % of Italians believe in the existence of demons. Still, even if a larger percentage believed in it, what sort of help could they expect? The January 1992 edition of Vita Pastorale [an Italian Catholic magazine] published an interesting article by Armando Pavese, a scholar in this field. Among other
assertions, he states that at least 100,000 experienced "professionals" of the occult operate in Italy. This compares to fewer than
38,000 priests—who, in the field of demonology, are practically illiterate. 

At the end of this chapter I will give an example of the painful path our faithful must walk in search of an exorcist. How difficult it is

to be heard with that minimum of empathy required by Christian charity! We are confronted with an ignorance that cannot be

justified and that I will address in the second part of this chapter. Now for the second question: How prepared are the men of the Church to deal with this challenge? In the Catholic world, exorcism has been almost extinct for countless decades. It is otherwise in some Protestant denominations.The following is a statement of fact that is notmeant as an insult: Catholic bishops, almost without exception, have never performed or witnessed an exorcism. How, then, can they be expected to believe in phenomena that are