Wednesday, September 17th 2014, 11:01 pm
Local Catholics are planning their opposition to a Black Mass scheduled to be put on this weekend by Oklahoma devil worshipers.
Tulsa's Catholic Bishop said, not only does the group disturb him, but he said the rate of demonic activity as a whole is on the rise.
In Tulsa we have one Catholic priest, Monsignor Patrick Brankin, trained to perform exorcisms. He said the number of people possessed locally is on the rise thanks to the number of different beliefs that intersect in the area; and the Catholic Church is taking it seriously.
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Bishop Edward Slattery blames the shift on society shying away from religion; a trend he's seen steadily since the 1960s and 70s.
“Suddenly we're getting them. I'm here 20 years and it's only about three or four years ago that this began to surface,” he said. “That simply opens the door for the devil and what the devil would like most of all, is for people to say he doesn't exist.”
Brankin, with the Tulsa Catholic Diocese didn't want to talk about his role as an exorcist, saying it would be too dangerous, so Slattery told us a bit about what he has seen during the process.
"The person who is possessed during the exorcism prayers really causes the devil pain and that's manifested in anger and foul language, sometimes odors,” he said.
The Monsignor said most possession victims are not Catholic.
Before Slattery can sign off on the exorcism, doctors and psychologists need to clear them of any mental illness.
“Not all priests would want to do this; in fact I would think most would not, but, nevertheless, if I ask any priest to do it he would say yes. It's not pleasant,” said Slattery.
This is just the Catholic take on this, and many disregard any truth to Satan or possession, but this weekend's Black Mass is perfectly real, and Slattery and the Tulsa Diocese don't want it to go on.
“This is the very opposite of what we practice, which is love, peace, joy, forgiveness. This is the reverse of this,” he said.
On Sunday night, at 7 p.m., the same time the mass will be held in OKC, Catholics will have a holy hour at Holy Family Cathedral in downtown Tulsa. They are expecting hundreds to attend.
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