REPORTS of a priest dealing with an increasingly heavy load of exorcisms due to an outbreak of demonic possessions are news to Archbishop John Bathersby.
The claims were recently made in a Brisbane media outlet.
The media report was linked to an initiative announced by the Pope’s exorcist-in-chief Fr Gabriele Amorth, 82, to “fight the devil head on” by training hundreds of priests as exorcists.
In an interview last week, Archbishop Bathersby told a Brisbane radio station that the claims of an increased frequency of exorcisms in Queensland were a “complete surprise” to him.
He said during his entire time as archbishop he had only been approached “four to six times” by someone looking for an exorcist.
In response to a question from the interviewer, the archbishop said he had “never been present at an exorcism”.
Archbishop Bathersby said the archdiocese did possess a priest with the authority to carry out exorcisms, as did most dioceses.
“I’ve certainly had no reports from this priest that he was getting any busier in this regard.”
The archbishop did acknowledge that it was possible that a group of people within society may be interested “in evil and in the devil”.
He noted that belief in the existence of the devil goes back to “scripture and life itself” and is a “regular part of Christian faith from the time of Christ, and still is”.
