Witches' Perspectives on "The Rite", Exorcism

Interesting--a witch's interview with an exorcist, the same priest whose experience is recounted in The Rite. I'm not sure what to excerpt--you kind of have to read the whole thing. It's definitely something of a collision of cultures, at the very least.

And here's another pagan's perspective on the interview.  Excerpts:

...The whole interview is a treasure trove. A rare chance for a Pagan to directly question a Catholic exorcist. As readers of my blog may know, I’ve been keeping track of the recent revival of interest in the rite of exorcism within the Catholic Church, and its undertones of spiritual warfare against non-Christian (specifically Pagan) faiths. Specifically chilling is that Father Thomas, and by extension I would hazard to guess other Catholic exorcists, still believes in Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA)...

This interview is essential reading, and I urge everyone to head over there. Kudos to Peg Aloi for not only landing this interview, but for asking the tough questions I’m sure many Pagans have wanted to ask this new generation of exorcists. For more on Father Thomas, do check out this profile in The Catholic Spirit where he outright says that dabbling in witchcraft “immediately disqualifies” you to run for public office. This movie, and its resulting publicity, may be a hidden gift to our community, as it is illuminating a very secretive subculture about their motives and world view...

(h/t The Anchoress)

A side note--the blogger at The Witching Hour dismisses the concept of Satanic ritual abuse out of hand.  I have a friend whose family had occasion to learn otherwise, and a family member whose mental health work brought them to a conference put on by local law enforcement on some of the things they were finding in the woods, on the real problem this posed, and the people harmed by this.

In short--though the average pagan may find such things as distasteful as Catholics find the sexual abuse some priests have been guilty of and the avoidance of responsibility on the part of some bishops, I hope they will not flatly deny the existence of such groups, or deny that certain foul behaviors are the logical consequence of worshiping the adversary.

To find out more on the Church's position on the New Age, see Jesus Christ: The Bearer of the Water of Life--A Christian Reflection on the "New Age".  To find out more of the Church's teaching on the demonic, see Christian Faith and Demonology.