Increase of Occult Activity Sparks ‘Pastoral Emergency,’ Specialists Say

The International Association of Exorcists met for its 12th annual conference in Rome, from Oct. 20-25.
From the National Catholic Register
BY MARY REZAC/CNA/EWTN NEWS
ROME — Catholic specialists in the occult say occult activity and the resulting need for exorcisms has reached a critical level.
Just prior to the season of all things supernatural, the International Association of Exorcists (AIE) met for its 12th annual conference in Rome, from Oct. 20-25.
According to AIE spokesman Walter Cascioli, an increasing number of bishops and cardinals asked to participate in the conference due to an increase in demonic activity.
“It’s becoming a pastoral emergency,” Cascioli told CNA. “At the moment the number of disturbances of extraordinary demonic activity is on the rise.”
The rise in demonic activity can be attributed to a decreasing faith among individuals, coupled with an increase in curiosity and participation in occult activity such as Ouija boards and séances, Cascioli added.
Many people are led to occult activities through seemingly innocent curiosity. One concerned mother wrote to Crux, the Boston Globe’s Catholic news outlet, for advice on her teenage daughter who seemed to becoming obsessed with the occult — she checks out books on witchcraft, watches Long Island Medium, and attends séances at the home of a friend who owns a Ouija board.
The advice columnist dismissed it as a phase, similar to an obsession with such literature as C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia or Tolkein’s Middle Earth — or with My Little Pony.
“If you don’t make it a big deal, she’ll have to face reality herself: Sooner or later, she has to grow up,” wrote Lisa Miller, Crux’s advice columnist.
The Catholic Church however, doesn’t equivocate when it comes to the occult. Any involvement, even passive participation in the occult, can be catastrophic and should always be rejected and avoided by believers, Cascioli said.
“It usually starts out of ignorance, superficiality, stupidity or proselytizing, actively participating or just watching.”
“The consequences are always disastrous.”
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