Italy, the Vatican and the Devil

[Photo of Fr. Gabriele Amorth]

I almost laughed out loud. The question was: "Is the Devil Gaining a Foothold in Rome?" That's the title of a CBN article. One wonders if the author has a clue as to the history of the Catholic Church over the past 2,000 plus years.

But it's a serious article, and yes, the Devil is gaining a foothold in the Holy City. We've written about the Vatican's chief magician (exorcist) previously, but Father Gabriele Amorth, pontificates that "There is a greater openness towards the devil."

Would you believe that Rome is "the most satanized city in Italy"? Hell, what a disappointment. I had always been told and believed it was the most "sanitized" city in Italy, although when I visited there a number of years ago, it seemed kinda old and dirty.

Father Pedro Barrajon, a Roman priest, claims "Satanism and the occult are in fashion."

How could this happen in the seat of Catholicism? Doth not the Vatican and the Pope and the Papal Poohbahs have any power whatsoever?


Then there's an "evangelical" clergyman, Silvano Lilli, also an inhabitant of Rome, who says there are "an estimated 800 satanic cults operating in the country, with more than 600,000 followers."

And, says Lilli, the situation is getting worse by the day. "The devil's diabolical influence is growing is so many areas of our society. He needs to be driven out."


I don't have a clue where Lilli gets his statistics, and he doesn't say, but they sound good (or bad). And I'm not sure what he thinks about Father Amorth (Amorth being of the Roman priestly caste) who has his little exorcist room not far from the Vatican to shoo the devil out of the demon-possessed. The violent ones are the worst, says Amorth. They have to be tied down.

But the good Father doesn't want any tape-recordings of his exorcisms. I wonder why? Especially since he insists that "exorcism is God's true miracle" (as opposed to what - God's false miracle?), and "Medicine and science have cases they can't solve but which are instead solved by exorcism."

Hmmm. Maybe we could try that on Bush and Cheney?


Seriously, there are all kinds of satan-related crimes in Italy. "Many Italians are forsaking priests for magicians, fortunetellers and faith healers."

Hmmm, again. Sounds like priests to me!

It's so bad, though, that law enforcement has enlisted the assistance of Catholic priests to help solve violent crimes.


That should do the job.