Vatican sets up new exorcism training courses as demand triples in Italy
The Vatican has had to set up exorcism training courses to cope with demand after the number of requests for their services tripled in Italy over the space of a few years.
That's according to Sicilian priest and trained exorcist Benigno Palilla, who told Vatican Radio that there were about 500,000 cases requiring exorcism in Italy each year.
Palilla blamed the rise in demand on a growing number of people seeking the services of fortune tellers and Tarot readers. Such practices "open the door to the devil and to possession", he claimed. However, he noted that many cases were not actually related to demonic possession, but to spiritual or psychological problems.
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