article_snippet.sent: Professor Giuseppe Ferrari, head of the Italian occult watchdog The Group on Research and Socio-Religious Information, made the revelation when speaking to a Vatican-backed exorcism course in Rome.
article_snippet.sent: Such incidents are considered a form of demonic possession by the Vatican.
article_snippet.sent: Although it continues to celebrate the role exorcisms play within the Church, it maintains strong guidelines on how and when exorcisms should be carried out.
article_snippet.sent: The ancient rite of casting out Satan and Pope Francis demons from the souls of the possessed has been carried out in the Catholic Church for centuries.
article_snippet.sent: But the practice of exorcism saw a revival of interest following the 1973 film The Exorcist and other popular film and literature references.
article_snippet.sent: Speaking to Vatican Radio, Dr Valter Cascioli, a psychiatrist and spokesman for the International Association of Exorcists, last year warned of 'an extraordinary increase in demonic activity'.
article_snippet.sent: He said that this makes it even more worrying that 'the number of people who are turning to these practices, which are damaging psychologically, spiritually and morally, is constantly growing'.
article_snippet.sent: The Association, which brings together Catholic priests and psychiatrists, was founded in 1990 and given formal recognition by the Vatican in June.
article_snippet.sent: Dr Cascioli said that too many people today undervalue the temptation to engage in 'ordinary demonic activity', which leaves them unprepared to fight off greater attacks by the devil.
article_snippet.sent: In societies marked by 'rushing, superficiality, exaggerated individualism and secularization,' Dr Cascioli added, 'the battle against evil and the devil increasingly is becoming an emergency'.
highlights_snippet.sent: Films and movies are said to be driving a growing interest in occult forces .
  