A \’possessed\’ woman underwent a nine-hour exorcism after she attacked an Italian priest during confession and started speaking in different voices and languages.
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According to Corriere del Veneto, the 28-year-old woman was accompanied by her family members to the Church of Saint Mary of Mount Berico in Vicenza, northern Italy, at around 11am on Sunday for confession.
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But witnesses said the unnamed woman began to scream and swear inside the basilica, and spoke in different voices and languages, including Latin, Corriere del Veneto reported.
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The woman ran through the confession rooms on the ground floor of the church, slapped her mother, and attacked the priest running the confession.
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A nine-hour-long exorcism was later held for the woman, who they claimed was possessed by the devil.
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The exorcism did not finish until 8.30pm when the woman collapsed and was taken home by her parents and younger brother, local media reported.
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Father Giuseppe Bernardi, the exorcist of Monte Berico, Father Carlo Rossato, and two other brothers were reported to have held the nine-hour-long exorcism.
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Some witnesses called local police and ambulance services to alert them to the situation, but authorities were said to have remained outside the church.
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Father Rossato said:Â \’It was a real possession and it was only in the evening that the situation was resolved when the girl physically collapsed.\’
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The Father claimed there are \’hundreds\’ of similar cases and said they have four exorcists in the curia of Vicenza to deal with such situations.
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According to Il Giornale di Vicenza, her mother took her to confession because she believed there was a \’demonic influence\’ behind her daughter\’s alleged violent behaviour, while her father believed she was suffering from a psychiatric disorder.