Vatican vows to fight Devil

The Catholic Church has vowed to "fight the Devil head-on" by training hundreds of priests as exorcists.

Father Gabriele Amorth (82), the Vatican's Exorcist-in-Chief, announced the initiative amid the Church's concerns about growing worldwide interest in Satanism and the occult.

According to plans being considered, each bishop would have a group of priests in his diocese who were specially trained in exorcism and on hand to take action against "extreme Godlessness".

Fr Amorth said: "Thanks be to God that we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head-on.

"Now bishops are to be obliged to have a number of established exorcists for their diocese. Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a proper, trained exorcist.

"Thankfully, Pope Benedict XVI believes in the existence and danger of evil."

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the oldest Vatican department, deals with promoting and safeguarding Roman Catholic beliefs. It was headed by the Pope when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, from 1982 until his election as Pope in 2005.

Fr Amorth said that during his time at the department the Pope warned humanity of the risks it faced from the Devil.

He added: "I remember a meeting we exorcists had with the Holy Father last year in which he implored us to follow our mission as exorcists."

Fr Paolo Scarafoni, another exorcism expert who lectures at the Vatican, said interest in Satanism and the occult had grown as people lost their faith in the Church.

He added: "People suffer and think that the Devil can help solve their problems."

Satanism

The Vatican is concerned that young people are being exposed to Satanism through the media, rock music and the Internet.