As you know, progress cannot be stopped, and new technologies seep even where it is difficult to imagine their existence. For example, in the rite of exorcism by a Catholic priest.
For over a decade, the Roman Catholic Church has been running exorcism courses in which visitors learn to recognize the devil, distinguish obsession from mental illness, and cast out demons. And this year it was decided to make life even easier for future exorcists. Now they can perform the ritual on their cell phone. Progress has made it here too.
According to Reuters, one of the teachers in the course, Cardinal Ernest Simonyi, believes that reciting a prayer to exorcise demons over the phone is tantamount to performing the ritual in person. “They call me, we talk, and that's how I perform the ritual,” explains Simonyi.
Catholic Church officials say the number of incidents of demonic possession is on the rise, as well as requests for exorcisms. Probably, this is what motivates the technological improvement of the ritual. This year, around 200 people attended the demon-casting course. It lasts only a week, is held in Rome, after which students receive a certificate that they have attended the course. True, he does not give the right to drive out demons, only priests can do this, and having received the direct permission of the bishop. But certified Catholics who are not ordained can become "exorcist assistants" by giving the priest moral support during the ritual.
However, modernity has penetrated into the ritual not only through telephone communications. Last year, the Catholic Church officially approved the translation of the exorcism text from Latin into English. “Since Latin is no longer as well-known as it used to be, even among priests, such a move opens up the opportunity for more clergy to perform the ritual,” says Father Andrew Menke.