Mexico City, Mexico, Jul 24, 2007 / 10:19 am (CNA).- The coordinator of exorcists of the Archdiocese of Mexico City, Father Pedro Mendoza, criticized the skepticism of some priests about the existence of the Devil and said that although there are not many cases of possession, there are many who suffer from demonic attraction, which is the result of man’s estrangement from God.

At the conclusion of the 3rd National Congress of Exorcists, Father Mendoza warned that those who do not believe in the existence of the Devil forget that it is a dogma of the faith, “no matter how much they want to explain (these phenomenon) as psychological or something else.”

Speaking to reporters, Father Mendoza said there are seven exorcists in the archdiocese and that the number is low because of the few cases of possession. But, he warned, there are many cases of individuals who suffer from demonic attraction as a result of estrangement from the faith, “which leads them to be interested in magic, witchcraft, spells, horoscopes and even death, and priests are not helping them because they don’t know how.”

He said the congress was a success as bishops were encouraged to address this issue in seminaries and thus train more priests to be exorcists.  One of the speakers at the event was Father Enrique Maldonado of the Archdiocese of Mexico City, who said it was necessary to distinguish between true demonic possession and mental illness. In this sense, he noted that of every 10,000 cases of alleged possession, only one is authentic. Therefore real experts are needed to distinguish between the two.

Father Jesus Yanez, who also addressed the congress, said demonic possession is characterized by four aspects: abhorrence for the sacred, the appearance of paranormal phenomenon, knowledge of things from afar and the ability to speak in languages that are unknown to the person when he or she is in a normal state.

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