Italian Man Granted Divorce by Claiming His Wife Is 'Possessed by the Devil'
An Italian court has accepted a man's request to divorce his wife based on his claim that she is "possessed by the devil." The husband presented several witnesses including a priest and a monk who claim to have seen the woman's episodes which include levitating from the ground.
The Local reported that the woman from Milan began to suffer from "inexplicable behavior" in 2007, including fits, stiffening and other unusual phenomena. She had to be pinned down when hit by convulsions. The couple had been married for 10 years and has two children.
Among those who witnessed the bizarre symptoms were the woman's own sister, a priest and a Capuchin monk who saw her perform "parabolic projections" in the air until she was thrown several meters away. A devout Catholic, the woman also single-handedly lifted a pew and hurled it at the altar.
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Attempts to exorcise the demon had been unsuccessful. The court "substantially confirmed" she was "clearly agitated" but "did not act knowingly." It also accepted a psychiatric test report stating "that the woman is not suffering from any pathology that might explain these phenomena." Considering the circumstances, the court granted the couple a no-fault divorce.
The Vatican recognizes demonic possession and has endorsed the International Catholic Association of Exorcists (ICAOE) which drew 400 priestly practitioners to its annual conference in October of last year. The activity recognized the need to recruit more priests to become exorcists to handle increased demonic activity.
"The lack of exorcists is a real emergency. There is a pastoral emergency as a result of a significant increase in the number of diabolical possessions that exorcist priests are confronting," ICAOE consultant and psychologist Valter Cascioli said. "The number of people who take part in occult and satanic practices, which lead to serious physical, psychological and spiritual damages, is constantly rising."
