Vatican University debuts classes on Satanism
Clergy to study 'black magic and exorcism' to combat
devil worship.
The Associated Press
Updated: 7:10 a.m. ET Feb. 17, 2005

ROME - Worried about the lure of the devil, a Vatican-linked university
on Thursday debuted its latest course offering: a class on Satanism, black
magic and exorcism.

The class for clergy and seminarians at Rome’s Pontifical Academy "Regina
Apostolorum" has arisen from alarm about Satanic practices among young
people, especially in Italy.

In one case in Italy in January, eight people believed to belong to a Satanic
sect were ordered to stand trial for their alleged role in three ritual killings.
One of the victims was a 19-year-old girl stabbed to death in 1998. She may
have been targeted because her killers believed she was a personification of
the Virgin Mary, prosecutors allege. The suspects belonged to a heavy metal
band called "Beasts of Satan."

The Vatican is also concerned about a growing number of young people
who develop personal forms of Satanism, outside the sects that are closely
monitored by police. They often learn about the devil through the Internet.

"It’s a more spontaneous and hidden phenomenon, a problem of loneliness
and isolation, a problem of emptiness, that is fulfilled by the values of
Satanism," said one of the teachers, Carlo Climati, a specialist on youth
culture and Satanism.

Climati said concerned parents had been asking for a special course for
priests.

The pontifical academy is run by the Legionaries of Christ, a conservative
order, and teachers for the class include exorcists and psychiatrists.
In 1999, the Vatican issued its first new guidelines since 1614 for driving
out devils, offering cautions to exorcists about taking psychiatric problems
into account.

The updated exorcism rite, first issued in Latin and contained in a red,
leather-bound book, was a reflection of Pope John Paul II’s efforts to
convince the skeptical that the devil is very much in the world. At the
time, he gave a series of homilies denouncing the devil as a "cosmic liar
and murderer."

Among the widely accepted signs of possession by the devil are speaking
in unknown tongues and demonstrating physical force beyond one’s natural
capacity.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6985041/