NADINE DORRIES: Catholic monks, rabbis, imams and evangelical preachers are all gathering on the Vatican to deal with a terrifying new evil. The satan has a brand new area… and prayer is not sufficient
When I read recently that an NHS hospice in Norwich had sought the advice of an exorcist after staff reported upsetting ‘paranormal’ incidents, I wasn’t in the least surprised.
There’d been repeated sightings of a ghostly little girl in a red dress who was haunting the wards of what had previously been a children’s hospital.
It reminded me of another little girl, the one who walked the landing between paediatric wards three and four at a hospital I worked in as a young nurse – a sighting I’ve written about on these pages before.
Her identity had been worked out by staff long before my time there from the book of death certificates kept in the office.
If I’d known then what I know now, I’d have picked up the phone to a priest – an exorcist – to come and help the ghost of that little girl find peace.
I was a sceptic once, but I’ve seen enough in my lifetime to know that ghosts, spirits, call them what you will, do exist.
I have experienced the inexplicable when patients and loved ones have passed. I now accept that some things are beyond rationalisation.
Indeed, I count myself lucky to have seen and heard enough to be enlightened but, thankfully, nothing that would make me afraid.
Nadine Dorris has written before about the sightings of a little girl, who walked the landing between paediatric wards three and four at a hospital where she worked as a young nurse
But I realise that most of us are ignorant of the true evil that may lurk in the shadows. It is why the Catholic Church, the Church of England and other faiths have exorcists or deliverance ministers on their teams.
And it is why the Vatican holds its course on the Ministry of Exorcisms and Prayer of Deliverance in Rome each year, open not only to Catholic priests but rabbis, imams and evangelical preachers.
I’ve been told that exorcists are a bit like plumbers. They deal with what have been described as ‘leaks’ in the liminal void – the space of transition between life and death – which can present as ghosts, apparitions, poltergeists and even demonic possession, of buildings and of individuals.
Exorcists are reportedly busier than they have ever been. In Italy, a country which monitors these things seriously, the need for exorcisms has reportedly risen in the past year by more than 500,000. Other countries around the world, including the UK and Ireland, report similarly.
And last week, British police warned that ChatGPT, the most-used AI chatbot, is facilitating a rise in reports of satanic and related abuse.
Victims of WSPRA – Witchcraft, Spirit Possession and Ritual Abuse – are using the bot as a form of therapy in trying to understand what has happened to them and, as a result, being directed by ChatGPT to report it to the police.
There is no legal charge which addresses WSPRA – which is believed by experts to be widely under-reported in the UK – but police say that it is typified by sexual abuse, violence and neglect involving ritualistic practices often inspired by satanism.
One of the participants in that Vatican course in May is Father Fortunato Di Noto, a Sicilian priest and a specialist in satanists who combine their devil worship with paedophilia. He believes they are ‘using AI to generate images of children involved in satanic rites’.
The Devil has a new domain it seems and prayers of deliverance may no longer be enough. Now tech-savvy exorcists are the new frontier in the 21st-century battle between good and evil.
…and no it’s not always the Devil’s work
Of course, I know many who don’t believe in God or the Devil and I understand that (although the late Pope Francis once said the Bible doesn’t make sense without understanding that both exist).
However, it’s hard to deny that evil in the world is on a very steep rise. It takes many forms and makes its presence felt in so many ways.
Take abortion. I am pro-choice but only up to a point. One in three pregnancies now end in termination and a new law allows women to abort their babies for ANY reason – right up until term.
Meanwhile, supporters of the assisted dying bill in the House of Commons and the Lords have fought hard to force through this ill-thought out piece of legislation while admitting that it is impossible to protect the elderly and vulnerable from being forced or coerced into taking their own life. We have confused youngsters who were victims of a state-sponsored experiment in the use of puberty blocking drugs with life changing effects.
Across Britain, there are warring gangs who’ve turned parts of cities into no-go areas. Pupils are stabbed to death on the way to school.
In Israel, people still struggle to come to terms with the aftermath of the October 7 atrocity at the hands of Hamas. Putin forces tens of thousands of young Russian soldiers arguably into a meat grinder and leaves the women of Ukraine widows. More than 30,000 young Iranian men and women lost their lives on the order of the former Ayatollah Khamenei after they protested against his rule.
To me, there is no other word for any of this other than evil.
A love story you should be watching
John Kennedy Jr and his style icon wife, Carolyn Bessette, pictured in Washington DC in 1999
If you haven’t got around to watching Love Story, the Disney+ drama about style icon Carolyn Bessette and her turbulent marriage to the most eligible bachelor of the time, John Kennedy Jr, then you are missing one of the best TV series I’ve seen.
Tragically, John, Carolyn and her sister, Lauren, all died after a plane piloted by him plunged into the Atlantic in July 1999.
But watching the start of their romance makes you long for the days when we didn’t have mobile phones, when we wrote letters and actually picked up a receiver to speak to each other.
The days before dating sites, texts and wokeness, when romance thrived following a very different rule book. It’s nostalgia mixed with the thought: What if they had lived? Would they have gone the distance?
Beware the Potswolds!
Locals have renamed the Cotswolds the Potswolds, owing to the epidemic of potholes. There is even an Instagram account dedicated to the worst examples.
Driving over what I thought was a mere puddle but what turned out to be more of a lunar crater has cost me a tyre. Traffic veers from one side of the road to the other as cars play dodge while trying to avoid oncoming vehicles. If you’re planning a visit, be sure to throw a spare in the boot.
Liz Hurley turned up at an event in India in a Versace dress that she first wore to the Met Gala 27 years ago – and looked even younger than she did in 1999.
Having seen her up close, I can vouch for the fact that no photoshopping is required. Liz looks as good in the flesh as in the photos and that’s some achievement for a woman in her 60s.
