Against Satanic Panics > To Pagans and occultists > Mexico's Roman Catholic hierarchy
Mexico's Roman Catholic hierarchy and exorcism, vs. New Age and traditional healers
by Diane Vera
Copyright © 2006 by Diane Vera. All rights reserved.
Among Christians - including Roman Catholics - there has been a quite a growth in the popularity of exorcism these past several decades. (See my page about Exorcism, "spiritual warfare," and anti-occultism.) And, among Christians - including Catholics - an increased emphasis on demons and exorcism leads inevitably to an increased fear of all non-Christian spiritual practices. For example, in Mexico:
- Mexicans confront Satanism with National Meeting of Exorcists, Catholic News Agency, Mexico City, Sep. 02, 2004 - about Mexico's first National Meeting of Exorcists, inaugurated by the Archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, who is said to have "emphasized ... that the Church 'must denounce with the Word everything that is against God,' particularly witchcraft, occultism, magic, fortune telling, tarot cards and masonry, among other things."
- Exorcisms up on church approval by Patrick Harrington (Miami Herald Mexico Edition, El Universal, January 02, 2006), an interview with Father Pedro Mendoza Pantoja, the Roman Catholic Church´s highest-ranking exorcist in Mexico City, who blames demon possession/oppression on (among other things) the activities of traditional Mexican healers.
Mexico is also the birthplace of the Legion of Christ, a controversial conservative religious order which runs the Pontifical Academy "Regina Apostolorum," at which the Vatican's course on "Satanism and exorcism" is being taught. (For more information, see my collection of links about the Legion of Christ in the section on Exorcism, the Vatican, and the current Italian Satanic panic on my page about Exorcism, "spiritual warfare," and anti-occultism.)
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