Any recent grads freaking out about their job prospects need not fear: Apparently the demand for exorcists has never been higher. The Telegraph reports that the Catholic Church in Italy and the US has seen a rise in people practicing Satanism and the occult—and there aren't enough exorcists to handle it.
“The lack of exorcists is a real emergency," psychologist and scientific consultant to the International Association of Exorcists, Valter Cascioli, told La Stampa. “The number of people who take part in occult and satanic practices, which lead to serious physical, psychological and spiritual damages, is constantly rising.”
According to Dr. Cascioli, there has been an increase in exorcists in recent years, but that still hasn't been enough to keep up with the superstitious practices that require their services. Apparently, people who use the internet a lot are the most at risk.
However, Dr. Cascioli knows a solution. “There doesn’t exist a training institution at university level," he points out. "We need an interdisciplinary approach in which science collaborates with religion, and psychiatrists work with demonologists and exorcists."
This is corroborated by current exorcists, who agree that demand has never been higher. "I am a full-time pastor and this is a very intense ministry," says Father Thomas, the official exorcist of the diocese of San Jose in northern California who has performed between 50 and 60 exorcisms over the past ten years. "Almost every free night that I have is taken up with exorcisms."
Time to dust off those resumes!
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