The proliferation of "beautiful young vampires" in TV series and Hollywood films including True Blood and the Twilight movies is encouraging young people to dabble with occult forces, a leading authority on demonic possession has warned a Vatican-backed exorcism course.
"There are those who try to turn people into vampires and make them drink other people's blood, or encourage them to have special sexual relations to obtain special powers," said Professor Giuseppe Ferrari at the meeting in Rome, which heard that the number of such possessions is rising globally. "These groups are attracted by the so-called beautiful young vampires that we've seen so much of in recent years."
Professor Ferrari, who heads an Italian occult watchdog, The Group on Research and Socio-Religious Information, said exorcisms should only be conducted by properly trained priests. Although the Vatican regards genuine demonic possession as rare, with many suspected cases proving to be people with mental illnesses, Pope Francis has urged dioceses to ensure that they follow Catholic law and have at least one trained exorcist each.
Swiss exorcist Father Cesare Truqui told The Independent that this week's course, attended by exorcists, priests and lay people, was vital in order to raise awareness and hone priests' skills in fighting evil. "The ministry of performing exorcism is little known among priests. It's like training to be a journalist without knowing how to do an interview," he said, noting that dioceses in Italy and beyond were experiencing a surge in reports of symptoms of possession.
In 2012 it emerged that the diocese of Milan, the biggest in the world, had installed an exorcism hotline to cope with demand. Monsignor Angelo Mascheroni, Milan's chief exorcist, said that his diocese had doubled the number of exorcists from six to 12 to cope with the 100 per cent rise in the number of requests for help over the last 15 years.
