Hello there. This is Mark Bowerline with another conversation.

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Adam Bly is with us today. He is the author of hauntings, possessions, and exorcisms,

and also the Catholic Guide to Miracles, and now a new book, The Exorcism Files.

True Stories of Demonic Possession. That's our topic today. Welcome, Mr. Bly.

Thank you, Mark. It's good to be here. So when we look at the issue of exorcism, when that comes up, what is the general, I don't know quite how to put this.

What's the popular impression of exorcisms out there beyond the Catholic world, let's say?

Well, I think even within the Catholic world, there's a lot of misconceptions because people largely, and it's no fault, they largely just have the movies to go by. And so a lot of people have a lot of presumptions about exorcism ministry that are based in the films. And they don't even know

to question that presumption. Because if it's on a screen, it's true. That's kind of the assumption

built into our society. Films have a large impact on society

and the zeitgeist and people's thinking and understanding of terms. And so I think the common

idea is that, number one, it's a dramatic prayer that's a few minutes long, and then the case is over.

That's not true. None of that's true. Secondly, that it's a dramatic prayer that's a few minutes long, and then the case is over. That's not true. None of that's

true. Secondly, that it's special people. A priest with a special gift is the kind that is chosen to do

this, and that's not true either. Every priest is an exorcist. They just don't have permission to do

solemn exorcisms. So that's another error that Hollywood

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