Church establishes exorcist hotline

Helpline set up to cope with demand

The Archdiocese of Milan has set up a exorcist
hotline to help with the growing demand.
They hope the new helpline will make it
easier for people to get a hold of an exorcist.
Sxc.hu.

Catholics in Milan who feel they are possessed by Satan are just a phone call away from an exorcist. The Independent website reports that a new hotline has been set up in the Italian city:

The Catholic Church has established an exorcist hotline in Milan, its biggest diocese, to cope with demand. Monsignor Angelo Mascheroni, the diocese’s chief exorcist since 1995, said the curia had also appointed twice as many exorcists to cope with a doubling in the number of requests for help over 15 years.

“We get many requests for names, addresses, and phone numbers; that’s why we’ve set up a switchboard in the curia from Monday to Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.,” he told the chiesadimilano website.

“People in need can call and will be able to find a priest in the same area who doesn’t have to travel too far.” And to that end, the number of demon-busting priests on call has increased from six to 12.

The Monsignor said he knew of one exorcist who had been seeing up to 120 people a day. “But with so little time per client he was only able to offer a quick blessing. That’s not enough,” he said. ”There should be two to four appointments a day, no more, otherwise it’s too much.”

Read the full story here.