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<p>The first video, posted by Facebook user "Renèe A. Carter," shows a young woman pulling at her shirt and necklace with her eyes closed before she throws the jewelry aside and becomes calm once more.</p> <p>The second video, which was also posted to YouTube, shows the same woman retrieving a cellphone from her bag and putting it back before she arches her head, puts her hands to her hair and growls.</p>

VATICAN CITY — A darling of liberal Catholics and an advocate of inclusion and forgiveness, Pope Francis is hardly known for fire and brimstone. Yet, in his words and deeds, the new pope is locked in an epic battle with the oldest enemy of God and creation: The Devil. After his little more than a year atop the Throne of St. Peter, Francis’s teachings on Satan are already regarded as the most old school of any pope since at least Paul VI, whose papacy in the 1960s and 1970s fully embraced the notion of hellish forces plotting to deliver mankind...

Do you guys think that Muslims will use Harvard's decision to perform a Black Mass as propaganda to prove that the United States is indeed the Great Satan we are always accused us of being? I do think so, this will be a ripe chance for Jihadis to justify their attacks on us, as a righteous and genuinely holy war. Americans openly worhsiping the Devil in a Satanic ritual and this might very well be plastered all over the Muslim media in the Middle East.

Most of us take it for granted that Satan hates us. But why does he hate us? That question recently came up in my Our Sunday Visitor column. It is a very different kind of writing than I do here, in that it requires me to provide very brief answers. But I’m sure you sometimes appreciate brevity on the blog! Thus consider a brief post today on a mysterious question: Q: In the sermon the other day, the priest said Satan hates us. It occurred to me to ask, why does Satan hate me, what did I ever do to...

Why did Alex Hribal do it? Why did the 16-year-old sophomore at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania stab and slash 20 of his classmates (and a security guard), leaving at least four of his victims in critical condition? WTAE in Pittsburgh reports that “investigators continue to explore bullying as a possible motive.” NBC News cites criminologists who suggest Hribal was driven “by rage and adrenalin.” The Associated Press reports “[t]he boy’s family is just as puzzled as police about what triggered the attack.” But there is an obvious explanation of Hribal’s murderous rampage, which has been ignored by...

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said Satan exists in our present century and we must learn from the Gospel how to fight against his temptations. This was the core message of his homily at the Mass celebrated on Friday in the Santa Marta residence.Pope Francis said the life of every Christian is a constant battle against evil just as Jesus during his life had to struggle against the devil and his many temptations. And he warned that whoever wants to follow Jesus must be aware of this reality. “We too are tempted, we too are the target of attacks by the...

In today’s Gospel We hear the story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The story is a significant turning point in the ministry of Jesus for, as we shall see, it because of this incident that the Temple Leadership in Jerusalem resolves to have Jesus killed.As is proper with all the gospel accounts we must not see this as merely an historical happening to people 2000 years ago. Rather we must recall that I am Lazarus, I am Martha and Mary. This is also the story of how Jesus is acting in my life.Let’s look at this Gospel...

The Christian religion has been hijacked by the devil; creating a cult of Christian apostasy. Most leaders of the church have themselves been deceived by the master manipulator himself....satan.

“Are you a male or a female? A Muslim or a nonbeliever? If you are a nonbeliever, raise the index finger of your left hand. If you are a Muslim, raise the index finger of your right hand!” Sheikh Abu Harith screamed the words in Ghada’s ear as she lay in one of the beds in his clinic. He was talking to what he thought was a djinn, a supernatural creature in Islamic tradition, which was possessing her. Summary⎙ Print A teenage Palestinian girl has died while undergoing an exorcism, a widespread practice in Gaza's environment of poor government control...

PART I - FAITH. THE APOSTLES' CREED. FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED: "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY." 8. THE ANGELS. 1. The angels are pure spirits. They can, however, take a visible form. The angels are pure spirits without bodies, whereas men have both body and spirit. Yet the angels can take to themselves a bodily form, as did St. Raphael (Tob. v. 18), when he undertook to accompany the young Tobias on his journey. At the sepulchre of Our Lord, after the resurrection, the angels appeared in the form of young men, and the same was...

In Sunday’s Mass (Feast of the Presentation) there was an excerpt from the Letter to the Hebrews which describes our most basic and primal fear. The Hebrews text both names it and describes it as being the very source of our bondage: The Fear of DeathBut I am not convinced that many of us understand the phrase as richly as possible, for “death” here is as much an allegory as referring to the actual and singular event of our passage from this world. In order to unlock the secret of the text I want to suggest to you an interpretation...

Satan falling from heaven, as depicted by Gustave Dore in an illustration for John MIlton's "Paradise Lost". In his first homily, given on March 14th, Pope Francis cautioned the faithful that “he who does not pray to the Lord, prays to the devil.” “When we do not profess Jesus Christ,” he further insisted, “we profess the worldliness of the devil, a demonic worldliness.” Since that day, he has spoken often of the one he has called the “prince of this world,” and the “father of lies.” And, in the book, On Heaven and Earth, then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio devoted...

"...An outstanding feature of the "personality" of the devil is his "abysmal hatred". He "enjoys the evil in whatever form it occurs." In one exorcism, he cried: "Take this heinous book of the Apocalypse. It is written about a woman who gives birth. I always try to eat the children. Do you know how?" Then the devil described with frightening words, the daily mass murder of thousands of unborn children who are killed by abortion in the womb. ..."

The “Weakness” of God is Stronger than Satan’s PowerBy: Msgr. Charles Pope There is a line in the Letter to the Hebrews which reads:You made [Jesus] for a little while lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor, subjecting all things under his feet.” In “subjecting” all things (to him), he left nothing not “subject to him.” Yet at present we do not see “all things subject to him,” but we do see Jesus “crowned with glory and honor” because he suffered death,  (Heb 2:7-9)Now this text is clear about two things. First, All things are subject to...

Many years ago I heard a Protestant Minister say that Satan wasn’t all that concerned when a person went to church because he could drag a soul to Hell from a church pew just as soon as from a gutter or brothel. Now preachers are given to hyperbole and perhaps some distinctions are in order here, especially for a Catholic. We do in fact believe that the Sacraments, if received fruitfully, do strengthen us and provide a sure help against the incursions of the evil. That said, we ought to also acknowledge that there are certain temptations common to believers...

What is it that really holds us in bondage? What is it that is truly the source of our problem, our sins, our selfishness, our anger, our lust and pride? Original Sin? Yes but where does the wound of sin really set up shop in us and stay open for business? What does it tap into for its strength? Scripture has an interesting answer to this question: Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free...

The Church of England is trying out a new baptism service which drops all mention of the devil and sin. Instead of asking parents and godparents to ‘reject the devil and all rebellion against God’, it asks them to make a single broad pledge to ‘reject evil’. Among other phrases abandoned in the experimental new christening rite are those referring to ‘the deceit and corruption of evil’, ‘the sins that separate us from God and neighbor’, and a promise to ‘fight valiantly as a disciple of Christ against sin, the world and the devil.’ …

Dioceses across Italy, as well as in countries such as Spain, are increasing the number of priests schooled in administering the rite of exorcism, fabled to rid people of possession by the Devil. The rise in demonic cases is a result of more people dabbling in practices such as black magic, paganism, Satanic rites and Ouija boards, often exploring the dark arts with the help of information readily found on the internet, the Church said.

It would be easy if Satan came as he is often portrayed, with horns and a pitchfork. We would naturally flee this ugliness.Alas, he often comes cloaked in beauty, in sheep’s clothing: He claims to offer us freedom and autonomy from an unreasonable God and Church, liberation from rules and being “told what to do.” He cloaks himself in the false righteousness of being “tolerant” and “not judging others.” He exalts us by telling us we have finally come of age and can disregard the “hang-ups” and “repression” our ancestors had of sex and pleasure. He flatters us by...

The article, “Deep Divide of ‘Evil Genes" reports that evolutionary biologists at the University of Connecticut are analyzing Adam Lanza's DNA in the hope of determining if whether an evil gene caused him to go on a killing spree. (Deep divide of 'evil genes, Julia Llewellyn Smith, Age of Technology, April 11, 2013) So controversial is the idea that evil may be genetically caused that projects set up to investigate the issue have been shelved after public uproar: "Scientists are haunted by the ghosts of the pseudoscientific eugenics movement, which held that mankind could be improved by breeding out the...