Just some Exorcism information

Evidently, in 1999, the Vatican revised both the rules of and the Rite of Exorcism. The original rite, "The Roman Ritual" (or the foundation thereof) was written in 1614. The Pope frequently talks about the Devil as a real entity on Earth to test people and their faith. There are priests trained and appointed to perform exorcisms (it's not as easy as the movies make it look, of course, both to get an exorcism and to actually cast out whatever the force is).

So....how do we reconcile information like this in contrast with what I recounted about the Pope recently, and with Vatican II rulings and the Pope's recent assertation that "God is not a magician", and Science and Religion are not mutually exclusive.

I...dunno. I guess I feel like there's room in the world for both the scientific and the fantastic. I can tell you the next course on Exorcism and Prayer of Liberation is being held in Rome in April of 2015 at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum and is, by accounts I find, open to those who can attend. I can only assume it's in Italian, the (as yet undetermined) price of admission does not include lodgings, and you need to get yourself to Rome. It seems like it would be fascinating to attend; five days to cram your brain with these topics, in a sanctioned manner? Yes please.

It's hard to reconcile demonic possession with mental illness as well. There are very sad and angering stories of people with schizophrenia, or developmental disabilities, being injured and even dying during an exorcism, which is perhaps one reason it's so hard to get the Catholic Church to do one; they want to be certain without a doubt something like demonic possession is the case, and not brain chemistry. It's a terrible mistake to make, and causing more pain and suffering is never the intent (should never be the intent). I'm not sure how one ever reaches that certainty but, God willing, it will never be my job. I just like to read about it and, sometimes, write about it.

(why yes, my current novel in progress opens with an exorcism; how could you tell?)

Digital Vatican

You may or may not be aware, the Vatican is digitizing its collections.

Think about this a moment.

There are things in the Vatican collections which are entirely unique. Hundreds of years old. Fascinating and beautiful and even, dare I say, education and/or informational. And they're digitizing it. I cannot begin to describe my joy. 4000 manuscripts. It's too much to ever get to, I'm sure, but it's there and I'm happy. It's one of those things I think about sometimes; the Vatican contains so much history, which hardly anybody is able to scratch the surface of. Access is limited (though I confess I don't know the full details of this. I'm sure scholars are permitted to do research there. I'm sure showing up at the Vatican and saying "let me in, I'm Catholic!" though true, would not just let me in.)

The Oxford library (the Bodlein Library specifically) has also made some of its super old manuscripts available online, for free.

Another fantastically amazing religious book which is available to view online now is the Gigas Codex, which translates to "Giant Book", but is also referred to colloquially as the Devil's Bible. It's the "real" Bible, as it were, in Latin [of varying dialects], but also contains a big huge picture of the devil, and then other non-Christian-Bible style documents. Oh yeah, and legend has it that it was written by a monk who traded his soul to the Devil so the book would be finished in one night, like some kind of fucked up Christmas Carol. National Geographic did a neat documentary on it, and it really is a huge book. Like, coffee table sized.

Pope Francis actually puts quite a lot of emphasis on the Devil, mentioning him in speeches fairly frequently. I confess I haven't really paid attention to prior popes' speeches, so I'm not familiar with all of the content. It could be that secular media are just blown away that we Catholics still believe in such things, I don't know. This year in May was the 9th annual Exorcism and Prayer for Liberation conference in Rome, and Pope Francis has only been pope since 2013, so clearly the Devil has still been in mind.

Though I don't think you need me to tell you I think Pope Francis is a rock star. Calling out a Bishop for spending millions on his official residence? Not picking up the red leather shoes the former Pope Benedict had made for him? Auctioning his own Harley (and leather jacket) for charity?