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Series:   Elements in Magic

Witchcraft and the Modern Roman Catholic Church

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2022

Francis Young

Summary

Witchcraft is rarely mentioned in official documents of the contemporary Roman Catholic church, but ideas about the dangers of witchcraft and other forms of occultism underpin the recent revival of interest in exorcism in the church. This Element examines hierarchical and clerical understandings of witchcraft within the contemporary Roman Catholic church. The Element considers the difficulties faced by clergy in parts of the developing world, where belief in witchcraft is so dominant it has the potential to undermine the church's doctrine and authority. The Element also considers the revival of interest in witchcraft and cursing among Catholic demonologists and exorcists in the developed world. The Element explores whether it is possible for a global church to adopt any kind of coherent approach to a phenomenon appraised so differently across different cultures that the church's responses to witchcraft in one context are likely to seem irrelevant in another.
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Keywords

Roman Catholicismwitchcraftsorcerydemonologyexorcism
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Magic
Online ISBN: 9781108953337
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 27 January 2022

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