This is one of the reasons why atheism is growing

If it's only symbolic as some of the milder bozos in the priesthood say it is .... then why not say that the act is for showering graces to give one peace and tranquility instead of pretending (or with the prime nuts .... really believing it to be so) to drive away the devil???   I do realize that exorcism seems to be an inexpensive way for the poor Christians around  the world  to save the  fees one would otherwise have to pay  headshrinkers .... but still !!         **sigh**

The Catholic Church has established    an exorcist hotline in Milan, its biggest diocese, to cope with demand. Monsignor Angelo Mascheroni, the diocese’s chief exorcist since 1995, said the curia had also appointed twice as many exorcists to cope with a doubling in the number of requests for help over 15 years.

“We get many requests for names, addresses and phone numbers; that’s why we’ve set up a switchboard in the curia from Monday to Friday from 2.30pm to 5pm,” he told the chiesadimilano website.

“People in need can call and will be able to find a priest in the same area who doesn’t have to travel too far.” And to that end, the number of demon-busting priests on call has increased from six to 12.

The Monsignor said he knew of one exorcist who had been seeing up to 120 people a day. “But with so little time per client he was only able to offer a quick blessing. That’s not enough,” he said. ”There should be two to four appointments a day, no more, otherwise it’s too much.”...