It seems that everything today is a cheap knock-off, even exorcisms. Officials in Florence believe that Father Saverio Bazzoffi has amassed £3 million by performing staged exorcisms. From a legal perspective, I can understand how one could prove a staged exorcism but how does one prove a fake one?
Father Bazzoffi appears to have become a sensation with exorcisms performed like Vegas shows before hundreds, with aides pretending to be possessed by the devil. One witness said: “During Mass, the priest spoke in Aramaic, and strange things happened. I do not know if it was group hysteria or our suggestibility, but I remember one old woman screaming in a man’s voice while five big guys held her down.”
Bazzoffi heads the matrimony office of the diocese of Florence, but has been told by the church to stop with the exorcisms, which are restricted to a cadre of trained exorcists. Indeed, recently demands for exorcisms has been so brisk, that the church is looking for a few good exorcists to fill the gap, click here and here.
He is not the only priest accused to shoddy or fake exorcisms, click .
Recently, Hindi leaders also faced their own scandal over ancient rites when a leading Indian Tantrik failed to kill a man on live television, click here
In the case of Father Bazzoffi, his problems are not more earth-bound. He is accused to fraud and can also presumably be sued civilly by bilked citizens. These cases are quite interesting since services of faith do not usually promise concrete results like suing a faith healer over unhealed ailments. Father Bazzoffi, however, allegedly crossed the line with plants and staging.
For the full story, click here.
I’m shocked !! Imagine people being bilked out of money paid to faith healers ! Exorcism, what great word indeed. I have no evidence that demons or evil spirits can’t actually rule the lives of lost souls; although there is a preponderance of collateral that suggests these demons and evil spirits are actually us.
I’m glad these types of stories are included on this blog. It does infuriate me when desperate people are taken advantage of financially or otherwise. Still, something is going on here, even with a completely sham practitioner.
It would be interesting to push aside as many preconceived notions as possible and scientifically evaluate these and similar instances (and I don’t mean in a deepak chopra kind of way!).
I come from a long line of snake handlers and battery acid aficionados. People do live through these experiences. How is that possible? I’m certain there is a reasonable explanation which would be useful in healing. No scientist should be ashamed of investigating these phenomenon. I don’t see how it’s more embarrassing to check into this stuff than dark matter/energy. We admit we don’t know what the latter is but we still try to understand it.