I was going through my files, and I found an article titled Exorcism Training offered by Catholic Bishops. It is an Associated Press article from a newspaper in upstate New York on November 12th, 2010. I was raised very Catholic in Baltimore, so I found this interesting and decided to share it with you.
2- day conference which instructs clergy on evaluating whether a person is truly possessed and reviews prayers that compromise rite.
‘’Citing a shortage of priests who can perform the right, the Nation’s Roman Catholic bishops are sponsoring a conference on how to conduct an exorcism. The two day training starting Friday in Baltimore is to outline the scriptural basis of evil, instruct clergy on evaluating whether a person is truly possessed, and review the prayers and rituals that comprise an exorcism. Among the speakers will be Cardinal Daniel Dinardo, archbishop of Galveston- Houston, Texas, and a priest assistant to New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan.
Learning the liturgical right is not difficult, Dinardo said in the phone interview. The problem is the discernment that the exorcist needs before he would ever attempt the right.
More than 50 bishops and 60 priests signed up to attend, according to Catholic News Service, which first reported the event. The conference was scheduled for just ahead of the fall meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which starts Monday in Baltimore.
Despite strong interest in the training, skepticism about the right persists within the American church.
Organizers of the event are keenly aware of the ridicule that can accompany discussion of the subject. Exorcists in US dioceses keep a very low profile. In 1999, the Church updated the right of exorcism, cautioning that all must be done to avoid the perception that exorcism is magic or superstition.
A major exorcism can only be performed by a priest with the permission of his Bishop after a thorough evaluation, including consulting with physicians or psychiatrists to rule out any psychological or physical illness behind the person’s behavior. Signs of demonic possession accepted by the Church include violent reactions to holy water or anything holy, speaking in a language the possessed person doesn’t know, and abnormal displays of strength.
The full exorcism is held in private and includes sprinkling holy water, reciting Psalms, reading aloud from the Gospel, laying on of hands and reciting the Lord’s prayer.
Some adaptations are allowed for different circumstances. The exorcist can invoke the Holy Spirit, then blow in the face of the possessed person, trace the sign of the cross on the person’s forehead, and command the devil to leave. The training comes at a time when many American bishops and priests are trying to correct what they view as a lack of emphasis on the Catholic teaching about sin and evil after the Second Vatican Council, the series of meetings in the 1960s that enacted modernizing reforms to the church. Many in the American hierarchy, as well as Pope Benedict XVI believe that the supernatural aspect of the church was lost in the changes, reducing it to just another institution in the world. A renewed focus on exorcism highlights the divine element of the Church and underscores the belief that evil is real. Dinardo said some Catholics who ask for an exorcism are rarely seeking prayerful support.
They’re asking for formation in the faith still.
He said sometimes the right is warranted. For the longest time, we in the United States may not have been as much attuned to some of the spiritual aspects of evil, because we have become so much attached to what would be either physical or psychological explanations for certain phenomena, we may have forgotten that there is a spiritual dimension to people.
The practice is much more accepted by Catholics in parts of Europe and elsewhere overseas.
The longtime private secretary of Pope John Paul II revealed a few years after the pontiff’s death that John Paul had performed an exorcism on a woman who was brought into the Vatican writhing and screaming in what was a case of possession by the devil. Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield IL, who organized the conference, said only a tiny number of US priests have enough training and knowledge to perform an exorcism. Diocese nationwide have been relying solely on these clergy, who have been overwhelmed with requests to evaluate claims. The Reverend James LeBar Who was the official exorcist of the Archdiocese of New York under the late Cardinal John O’Connor had faced a similar level of demand, traveling the country in response to many requests for his expertise. The right is performed only rarely. Neil Lozano. A Catholic writer and author of the book Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance about combating evil spirits, said he knows an exorcist in the church who received about 400 inquires a year, but determines that out of that number, two or three of the cases require an exorcism.
No one knows why more people seem to be seeking the right.
One reason could be the growing interest among Americans in exploring general spirituality, as opposed to participating in organized religion, which has led, more people to dabble in the occult. They don’t know exactly what they’re getting into, and when they have questions, they’re turning to the church, to priests. They wonder if some untoward activity is taking place in their life and want some help discerning that. Many Catholic immigrants in the US come from countries where exorcism is more common.
Exorcism has deep roots in Christianity.
The New Testament contains several examples of Jesus casting out evil spirits from people, and the Church notes these acts in the Catholic Catechism. Whether or not individual Catholics realize it, each of them undergoes what the Church calls a minor exorcism at baptism that includes prayers, renouncing Satan and seeking freedom from original sin. ”
