Catholic Church starts exorcism hotline

The Roman Catholic Church has set up an exorcism hotline.

Church leaders have taken the action of setting up a phone line – which is manned in the afternoons from Monday to Friday - in response to claims in Milan that there has been an increase in demonic possession.

Chief exorcist Mons Angelo Mascheroni said: "We receive a lot of requests for names, addresses and phone numbers. That's why we have set up a switchboard in our [offices]."

But he said: "Genuinely diabolical cases [of possession] are, in my experience, very rare."