WHAT A HEEL!: Quod Nomen Mihi Est?
Father Francesco Saverio Bazzoffi of Florence, IT, is being investigated for fraud for allegedly raking in £3 million ($5.96 million) staging fake exorcisms in front of crowds numbering in the hundreds. Investigators say he seeded the audience with ringers who would pretend to be ailing or “possessed,” whom Fr Bazzoffi would offer to heal or rid of demons with “ancient and obscure rites,” reports The (London) Telegraph. Last October, Fr Bazzoffi, who heads the matrimony office of the diocese of Florence, received a letter from the city’s archbishop admonishing him that he is not authorized to perform special rites, such as exorcism or the laying on of hands. For his part, Fr Bazzoffi claims only to have carried out blessings and says that any money he took in was used by the organization he founded, the House of the Sainted Archangels, to carry out “our projects in India and the Philippines."
Comments