A leading Irish expert has called Church leaders to appoint a team of exorcists to cope with what he sees as a rising tide of evil in the country. While many believe exorcisms only happen in Hollywood blockbusters, exorcist Fr Pat Collins said he is besieged by desperate people seeking help to deal with what they believe to be demonic possession and evil activity. He is ‘baffled’ that Irish bishops are not taking more action to appoint priests to deal with everything from ghostly encounters, being pulled from their beds, and full-blown possession. ‘What I’m finding is people who in their own minds believe - rightly or wrongly - that they’re afflicted by evil spirits. In many cases it is wrongly, but when they turn to the Church we don’t know what to do, and often they are not helped.' He also said there was growing apostasy within the Church. 'As this has happened, there is increasing evidence of the malicious activity of the evil one.’