A representative for the Catholic Church, an organization known for covering up for priests who sexually abuse young children, is warning followers about what he perceives as increasing references to Satanism, which he says “is getting much more aggressive.”

Dominican Father Francois Dermine, an exorcist from Italy, is incredibly scared of Satanism, which to many people just means installing goat statues and other cool things at public spaces that already have Nativity scenes. But his idea of “Satanism” really sounds more like secularism and kids just having some fun.

Among other things, Dominican Father Francois Dermine said, exposure to the demonic at a young age encourages violence, ranging from bullying to more serious manifestations. “There are many groups of satanism,” Dermine said, noting that internet exposure has also increased, and references to the demonic are increasingly prevalent in videogames and school games such as the “Charlie Charlie challenge,” in which players cross two pencils on a grid with sectors marking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and ask a supernatural being, “Charlie,” to answer the questions they ask. “Satanism is getting much more aggressive and also diffused,” Dermine said. Speaking to Crux, he faulted growth in secularism, which he said retired pontiff Benedict XVI dedicated much of his papacy to fighting, as one of the main causes.

So, what he is saying is that the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world should not be worried about the Catholic Church and its priests, many of whom have been credibly accused, charged, and convicted at worrying rates while being treated as though they are above the law. Instead, he thinks they should be concerned about devil-based video games and the separation of church and state.

“Secularization leaves a void,” he said, explaining that alongside it is a “sort of spiritual, ideological and also cultural void. Young people do not have anything to satisfy their spiritual and profound needs. They are thirsting for something, and the Church is not attractive anymore.”

Hmm… I wonder what could have caused kids to not be attracted to the Catholic Church anymore. If only we could identify a problem deep within the Church itself that makes it nearly impossible to hold its representatives accountable in any way…

And it makes no sense to conflate secularism with belief in a different kind of nonsense. There’s a word for people who believe in the supernatural. It’s not “atheists.”

With an ever-aging church-going population in Western society and a growing list of scandals, the Church is no longer seen as a valid resource for youth looking for answers, Dermine said, “so they try to find something elsewhere. This something is, many times, the demonic world.”

Dermine even gave a special shout out to A Children’s Book of Demons, a book for kids that we recently wrote about because it features demons that are “more silly than scary.”

If this is what the priesthood is concerned about, it’s no surprise that more kids are moving on from Catholicism.

(Screenshot via YouTube)

