Free Republic

Vatican courses on Satanism News Analysis By Uwe Siemon-Netto UPI Religious Affairs Editor PARIS, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Satanism is growing so quickly worldwide that as of next month a papal university in Rome will offer courses on this frightening phenomenon. According to Vatican sources, divinity students at the pontifical Regina Apostolorum (Queen of the Apostles) University will learn about devil worship, witchcraft, demonology and exorcism. They will learn to give pastoral care to youngsters who have joined satanic cults, but also their worried parents, a Vatican prelate told United Press International by telephone Tuesday. Type the word, "Satanism," into...

The Reform of the Rite of Exorcism Webmaster's Note: [Father Gabriel Amorth is the most famous exorcist in the Holy Church. As the chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome, he has performed countless exorcisms, and has contact with many of the active exorcists in the rest of the world. You may remember him from the story of the highly-publicized case of a demonically-possessed girl wreaking havoc at a Papal event last year. He has even written a book, published by Ignatius Press, on exorcism entitled An Exorcist Tells His Story. It is very telling then, to read about...

Ever since he was 12, Daniel Romano has cut a noticeable figure around Middle Village, a working class part of Queens. Mr. Romano, 20, who calls himself a Satanist, stands out, with his blue-tinted bouffant hairdo, his black clothing and fingernails, and the prominent crucifix, worn upside down. Mr. Romano has long been teased for dressing like a "gothic kid" or simply a "goth," in a community with small homes, neat lawns and populated with many Roman Catholics. But in recent weeks, two local teenagers began fixating on Mr. Romano, calling him names including "Satan worshiper," "baby sacrificer" and "hooker...

WASHINGTON - A religious liberties lawsuit brought by a Satan worshipper, a Wiccan witch, a white supremacist, and an adherent of an ancient Viking religion is drawing the impassioned support of major national religious groups as it approaches a hearing before the Supreme Court. The case is potentially the most important religious liberties case on this year's docket, impacting how far a state can go to accommodate the religious practices of its citizens and whether Congress can require states to be more accommodating. The case was filed by a group of Ohio inmates - Jon Cutter, J. Lee Hampton, John...

In a case of missing oversight and the proliferation of satanic beliefs, a school officer in the suburb of Houston, Texas handed out calendars to students containing satanic rituals and sexual rites for various days of the month. The officer was supposed to be handing out calendars delivering an anti-gang message. Officials at the Pearland School where the calendars were handed out said that about 25 students received the calendars, which “clearly was a mistake.” Investigations are undergoing to prevent a repeat in the future. "September 20th is a 'midnight host' whatever that is," said one unidentified parent reading from...

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Satanic image found in Pearland, Texas, school (courtesy KHOU-TV) Local school officials in a suburb of Houston, Texas, are investigating how it was possible that a school police officer handed out calendars to students that featured explicit details on satanic and sexual rituals for every day of the month. Parents in Pearland are demanding answers, according to a news report on KHOU-TV. The school police officer who handed out the calendars was supposed to deliver a positive anti-gang message to the students last Monday, according to the report. "September 20th is a 'midnight host' whatever that is," said one...

Local school officials in a suburb of Houston, Texas, are investigating how it was possible that a school police officer handed out calendars to students that featured explicit details on satanic and sexual rituals for every day of the month. Parents in Pearland are demanding answers, according to a news report on KHOU-TV. The school police officer who handed out the calendars was supposed to deliver a positive anti-gang message to the students last Monday, according to the report. "September 20th is a 'midnight host' whatever that is," said one unidentified parent reading from the calendar. "You should have a...

SANTIAGO, Chile — The gruesome murder of a priest in Chile by a Satanist sent shock waves throughout the Latin American nation in July. An Italian missionary, Servite Father Faustino Gazziero de Stefani, was slain by a 25-year-old man moments after he had finished saying Mass in Santiago’s cathedral. The assailant, Rodrigo Orias Gallardo, was dressed in black and armed with a knife. Witnesses said Gallardo knelt next to the priest after killing him and began to invoke Satan’s name. It was the first time that a Satanist publicly attacked and killed someone in Chile. Similar events took place in...

The British Armed Forces has officially recognised its first registered Satanist, a newspaper reports. Naval technician Chris Cranmer, 24, has been allowed to register by the captain of HMS Cumberland, based at Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth. The move will mean that he will now be allowed to perform Satanic rituals on board the vessel. According to the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Cranmer realised he was a Satanist nine years ago. Religious values Mr Cranmer said that was when he stumbled across a copy of the Satanic Bible, written by Church of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey. He said: "I then...

Navy approves first ever Satanist Mr Cranmer will be allowed to perform Satanic rituals The British Armed Forces has officially recognised its first registered Satanist, according to a newspaper report. Naval technician Chris Cranmer, 24, has been allowed to register by the captain of HMS Cumberland. The move will mean that he will now be allowed to perform Satanic rituals on board the vessel. According to the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Cranmer realised he was a Satanist nine years ago. Religious values At the time he stumbled across a copy of the Satanic Bible, written by Church of Satan founder Anton...

A TECHNICIAN in the Royal Navy has become the first serviceman in Britain's armed forces to be officially recognised as a Satanist, the defence ministry said. HMS Cumberland Satanist on board ... the "bad" ship HMS Cumberland / File Chris Cranmer, 24, has been given the go-ahead by his captain to perform Satanic rituals on board the HMS Cumberland and is reportedly lobbying his employers to register Satanism as an official religion in the armed forces. "There is a guy who has asked to practice his (Satanic) beliefs on a Royal Navy ship," a defence ministry spokesman said. "His request...

With headlines conjuring up "the devil and the deep blue sea," a non-commissioned officer in the Royal Navy has become the first registered Satanist in the British armed forces, leaving some veterans and politicians stunned. Chris Cranmer, 24, from Edinburgh, Scotland, has been officially recognized as a Satanist by the captain of the HMS Cumberland, according to the London Telegraph. The designation gives him permission to perform Satanic rituals aboard, and have a funeral carried out by the Church of Satan if he's killed in action. "From a military perspective, I believe in vengeance," Cranmer told the paper. "I don't...

Baker officials hope to ban 'satanic' holiday By CHUCK HUSTMYRE Special to The Advocate BAKER -- Ghosts and goblins, costumed superheroes, even little girls dressed up like Cinderella -- none may be welcome on the streets of Baker next year if some city officials get their way and drive Halloween out of town. "We're going to introduce an ordinance to stop Halloween -- period," City Councilman Fred Russell said. During this week's City Council meeting, Russell announced that he was in favor of eliminating Halloween beginning in 2005. Russell is not alone in taking this stance because throughout the Bible...

BREA, Calif. - Six years after a teenager's disappearance, five of his high school friends have come forward to say he was murdered and dismembered by a Satanist and gang member who scared them into keeping silent. Robert Anthony Marquez, 26, of Rowland Heights, was charged this week with first-degree murder in the death of Bryan Thorne after friends abandoned a story they had parroted since the night of the 16-year-old's disappearance: that they had last seen Thorne when he was dropped off near his home in Brea. One of the friends finally went to police because he was fearful...

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, Sep. 02, 2004 (CNA) - The Archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, inaugurated this week the first National Meeting of Exorcists as a means of combating the spread of Satanism.  Among those participating in the event is Fr. Gabriel Amorth, founder of the International Association of Exorcists.Addressing the more than 500 participants, including exorcist priests from various dioceses in the country, the Cardinal emphasized that “this is a crucial moment for the Church” and that the Church “must denounce with the Word everything that is against God,” particularly witchcraft, occultism, magic, fortune telling, tarot cards...

Rev. Gerald Robinson will go on trial for aggravated murder Feb. 22. Judge Foley set the date after discussing the progress made by prosecutors in giving discovery evidence to the priest's team of defense attorneys. "As far as I am concerned, that is a firm date," Judge Foley said. Father Robinson, 66, who was not present for the hearing, has pleaded not guilty of choking to death and stabbing Sister Margaret Ann in the hospital. Her body was found April 5, 1980, in the sacristy of a chapel. She was strangled, then stabbed up to 32 times in what investigators...

p>Satanism Linked to Priest's Murder in Chilean Cathedral Assailant Invoked Devil's Name, Says Servite Superior SANTIAGO, Chile, JULY 26, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The archbishop of Santiago decried the existence of Satanic groups in Chile in the wake of the weekend murder of a priest in the metropolitan cathedral. Cardinal Francisco Errázuriz, archbishop of Santiago and president of the country's episcopate, made that observation Sunday, a day after Servite Father Faustino Gazziero de Stefani, 68, was slain after he had celebrated Mass. The cardinal lamented that legislative proposals to curb Satanic groups have not been addressed with greater care. "They have killed...

The body of Peter Solheim, a parish councillor and Satanist, was found off the Cornish coast two days after he told his girlfriend that he was meeting a mysterious friend. Police don't doubt that he was murdered but have no clue how or why he died. In Mylor Churchtown, a village in Cornwall where boats outnumber the 200 residents by three to one, locals were preparing yesterday for the first busy weekend of the tourist season. As dawn broke, it could have been a scene from any Saturday of the summer, with yachtsmen preparing to set sail on the Carrick...

NEWS: July 6, 2004 Bird’s Eye View of the News Atila Sinke Guimarães SATANISM AND THE “INCOMPETENT ROMAN CURIA” – The ritual murders of young people linked to Satanism, rock, and drugs in northern Milan continues to grip the attention of Italian public opinion. The reason for these lines is to report an interesting interview with Chief Exorcist in Rome, Fr. Gabriele Amorth. But first let me summarize what is going on there for my reader. On the night of January 23-24, 2004, Andrea Volpe (age 27), leader of the Beasts of Satan heavy rock band, and Elizabeth Ballarin...

I teach courses in humanities and military history at Grove City College, an “enthusiastically Christian” college in rural northwestern Pennsylvania. This morning I concluded my Humanities 302 course with the Home Box Office movie Conspiracy which depicts a conference held on January 20, 1942 in a mansion in the posh Berlin suburb of Wannsee. In the dining room of this mansion, which once belonged to a wealthy Jewish businessman, SS Obengruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich, hosted 14 other top Nazi officials charged with devising the final solution to the Jewish problem. In two hours, while enjoying a sumptuous buffet, they determined what...