Chai Brady
A statue of St Michael the Archangel is displayed at the church of St Michael in New York City. Photo: CNS A renowned US exorcist has warned that as Christianity declines in the Western world the need for exorcists increases and that he has been receiving calls from people in Ireland who could not find assistance.
Licensed psychologist Msgr Stephen Rossetti, president and founder of the St Michael Centre for Spiritual Renewal in Washington DC, said Irish bishops “need to get together” and train priests in exorcism and deliverance ministry.
“I’ve got some calls from people from Ireland, I’ve prayed with people in Ireland over the phone because they couldn’t find an exorcist there, I think that’s a shame,” Msgr Rossetti told The Irish Catholic.
Msgr Rosetti said: “I think the Church needs to pay attention to this, when the Faithful come and they need help – people come from all different walks, whether Catholic, Protestant, Jews, Muslims whatever – if they come for help and we don’t help them then they are going to turn to other sorts of sources.
“They’re going to go to witch doctors, they are going to go to curanderos and people like that who are going to cut up the chickens, charge them 150 dollars and do some sort of magic ritual, making the problem worse so I think we have a pastoral obligation to receive these people in charity and do what we can.”
He adds that there has been an “explosion” in the number of people who have been practicing withcraft who “don’t realise any form of magic whether you intend it or not allies you with the dark side and when you’re asking for favours or powers from unknown spiritual sources it’s not God who is answering”.
A study undertaken last year by researchers from GRIS (Research and Socioreligious Information Group), Pontificio Regina Apostolorum and the Department of History, Cultures, Civilisations in the University of Bologna found that Ireland had nine exorcists.
This points to one-third of Ireland’s dioceses having an exorcist despite Vatican protocol stating all dioceses should have one.
Msgr Rossetti released a book ‘Diary of an American Exorcist’ on June 22 in which he gives an inside look at the experiences of working as an exorcist.
Read more here – Our primary defence against demons is deteriorating