I wasn't going to post anything...

...tonight -- it's been a busy and tiring weekend. But then I noticed this story from Saturday's New York Times, "For Catholics, Interest in Exorcism Is Revived," and I just couldn't help myself.

Exorcism -- in the twenty-first century, mind you -- is one of my favorite topics. I mean, come on everybody, get real.

The rite of exorcism, rendered gory by Hollywood and ridiculed by many modern believers, has largely fallen out of favor in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.

Maybe the reason it's ridiculed is that it's ridiculous.

There are only a handful of priests in the country trained as exorcists, but they say they are overwhelmed with requests from people who fear they are possessed by the Devil.

Now, American bishops are holding a conference on Friday and Saturday to prepare more priests and bishops to respond to the demand. The purpose is not necessarily to revive the practice, the organizers say, but to help Catholic clergy members learn how to distinguish who really needs an exorcism from who really needs a psychiatrist, or perhaps some pastoral care.

“Not everyone who thinks they need an exorcism actually does need one,” said Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., who organized the conference. 
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[The Rev. Richard Vega] said that there could eventually be a rising demand for exorcism because of the influx of Hispanic and African Catholics to the United States. People from those cultures, he said, are more attuned to the experience of the supernatural.

So, in other words, there won't necessarily be an increase in demonic possession, just an increase in those who believe in demonic possession. And for this reason, the Catholic Church has decided to "prepare more priests and bishops to respond to the demand."

Why not just prepare more priests to admit that the whole thing is silly?