Hayes Arendall
Religion 195b
March 31, 2003
According to Catholic belief, exorcism is: “The act of driving out or warding off demons or evil spirits from persons, places, or things that are, or are believed to be, possessed or infested by them or are liable to become victims or instruments of their own malice” (New Catholic Encyclopedia, 748). Exorcism has long been a part of Catholic doctrine, however, due to the popularity of books and movies about exorcism, in the past thirty years, the number of reported cases of possession have dramatically increased. When broken down to its core, exorcism is actually nothing more than a prayer to god intended to restrain the power of demons over men.
When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the devil and withdrawn from its stranglehold, this is called exorcism. The Christian belief that beings can be possessed by evil can be traced back to the beginning of time. Some Christian theologians believe that the serpent possessed Eve when she took a bit out of the sacred fruit. In all ages and religious systems, there are allusions to or directions for the removal of spirits from living or non-living objects. According to Catechism of the Catholic Church, “In simple form, exorcism is performed at the celebration of Baptism. The solemn exorcism, called ‘a major exorcism,’ can be performed only by a priest and with the permission of the bishop” (465). This paper will focus mainly on the practice of “major exorcisms.”
Up until the 1970’s, many Americans had never even thought about the possibility of being possessed by evil, let alone the need for an exorcist. However, in 1973, William Peter Blatty’s novel-turned-movie The Exorcist resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of reported exorcisms for years to come. Today, whatever one’s personal problems may be—depression, anxiety, substance abuse, or even a ravenous sexual appetite—there are exorcists trained and ready to help relieve them of the evil spirit who causes it. The Catholic Church continues to advocate the practice of exorcisms, and church authorities still recognize the possibility of possession. Today, the “Code of Canon Law” allows authorized exorcists to perform solemn exorcisms not only over the faithful, but also over non-Catholics deemed to be possessed. The idea of spiritual possession is a part of many religious systems. Even in tiny remote South American tribal villages, one can hear references of ways in which God inhabits a hunter’s soul and gives him the strength and knowledge for tracking and hunting (Goodman 45). While the belief in possession spans numerous religious systems, for the purposes of this paper, the focus will be on the Christian belief in and practice of major exorcisms.
The main source for information on Christian possession exorcism come straight from the Bible, which contains many stories of possession and exorcism. According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, the Old Testament Book of Tobia relates that a devil was said to have killed seven husbands of Sara. Subsequently, “The angel Raphael took the devil and bound him in the desert of Upper Egypt,” (748). These old testament stories are mostly stories about the devil being responsible for certain actions, however, many New Testament stories deal more with possession and the act of driving evil spirits out of the human. For example, Mark 1:23-26 shows one example of Jesus performing an exorcism, “Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, ‘What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—The holy one of God!’ ‘Be quiet!’ said Jesus sternly. ‘Come out of him! The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.” (NIV 1494). Many New Testament passages tell stories about how Jesus is able to drive out evil spirits from afflicted persons. These stories are important because it shows that evil spirits are susceptible to a higher authority. In the Christian sense, this higher authority is Jesus Christ. The act is based on the belief that the Devil, his demons, and evil spirits are afraid of Christ. This idea can also be seen in a story from Mark 5:1-13. Coming from the Sea of Galilee, Christ entered the land of Gerasenes. He was immediately met by a man from the tombs cut into the mountains of the area. The man was said to be possessed by an unclean spirit. Nothing could bind this man, not even chains. He lived in the mountains crying and cutting himself with stones. However, upon seeing Christ approaching, the man went to him seeking help. The uncleaned demon immediately recognized Christ, and Christ recognized the demon. Christ asked the demon his name, and the demon responded, “My name is Legion, for we are many,” (NIV 1500). Christ then ordered the demons into a herd of swine, which then ran into the sea and drowned. Unlike other exorcists, it is believed, that Christ did no exorcise because he did not need to call on a higher authority since he himself was the highest authority. As one can see, in the Christian system of exorcism, Christ is the deity responsible for driving out demons, and all valid knowledge comes from the Bible.
There are a number of steps required before an exorcism can take place. First, there must be an investigation by a member of the clergy. These investigators (often called “priest-exorcists” are specially trained agents of the Vatican whose sole purpose is to investigate miracles, possession, and possible sacred artifacts. These priests are trained to determine whether one person or another is possessed by a demon. There are many different symptoms that are possible signs of possession. Today, the purpose of these priest exorcists is to determine whether the symptoms experienced by a person claiming to be possessed by demons are not physical problems, but are actually demonical possessions. Some of the common symptoms of the possessed include: levitated objects, mysterious brands on the body of the victim, mysterious movements of objects around the victim, voice and personality changes, hallucinations, and the ability to speak in strange tongues. When reviewing the conditions for demonic possession, the exorcists must determine that the symptoms are not those of epilepsy, hysteria, schizophrenia, and other psychological disorders. This is perhaps where exorcism overlaps with modern science/medicine. The rite of exorcism is the only Catholic rite in which the priest must first take a skeptical stance, “Rather than assuming straightaway and proceeding with an exorcism, the priest is supposed to rule out all other possibilities from organic disorder to psychological pathology to outright fraud,” (Cuneo 14). For this reason, the selection and training of exorcists must acted out with great care.
While the church still has stated offices and training practices for exorcists, there is no doctrine prohibiting the common clergy from performing and exorcism. In fact, it is quite common for regular clergy to perform these rituals, mostly because the ritual is nothing more than a prayer. In the book, American Exorcism, there is an example of this prayer:
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the power of God’s Word, and the shed blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we bind the evil spirits that are tormenting Paul. In the name of Jesus, we forbid you evil spirits from manifesting yourselves in any way, or from interfering in any way with our prayers. In the name of Jesus.
Because by Catholic Law any man or woman of the cloth can perform the act of exorcism, the methods of Inquiry and Professional structure can often be overlooked. After all, exorcism is really little more than a prayer.
The highest authority in the Catholic Church is the Pope. The Pope acts mostly as the figurehead of the Church, and it is actually the priests who are responsible for carrying out church business in the Pope’s name. As for the structure of modern exorcism, there is little documented evidence on how one must be trained to become an exorcist. However, many things are known for sure. In order for one to be considered for the position of exorcist, they must have vast knowledge of medicine, psychology, and anatomy. According to Father John Nicola, a longtime student of the demonic, and principal investigator for the American Catholic bishops into suspected cases of possession, “First of all, we want to account for phenomena using natural causality—psychiatry, neurology, parapsychology, and so forth,” (Cuneo 21). Father Nicola also claims that while acting as principal investigator, he was asked to review 20 cases of possible possession of which only 2 could be considered actual possessions. In his book American Exorcism, Michael Cuneo interviews many Catholic priests closely involved with demonic investigations, however, many of these priests claim that they have rarely been involved with an exorcism. This leads one to believe that there are very few actual “priest exorcists.” The Catholic Church goes to great lengths to keep a great deal of its infrastructure a secret, and the training of exorcists is one of these secrets. Therefore, little is known about the training, or background of these priest-exorcists.
The first recorded story of exorcism occurs, in the Bible, when Jesus exorcises the demon in Mark 5: 1-13. The Bible also states that Jesus gave the power of exorcism to his disciples in Matthew 10:1, “He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness,” (NIV1456). The practice of exorcism was not confined to the clergy in the early ages. During these early ages, anyone who was a believer had the power to cast out demons with prayer. In the middle of the third century, Pope Cornelius created three minor orders of exorcists. In a letter written by this Pope, he claimed that there were “forty two acolytes, and fifty-two exorcists, readers, and door-keepers,” (New Catholic Encyclopedia). By 398, the fourth Council of Carthage, in its seventh canon, prescribes the rite of ordination for the exorcists; the bishop is to give him the book containing the sayings and rituals for exorcisms. These same sayings and rituals are used today, however, most theologians are unsure how many exorcists the Church uses. These Canons, however, still allow all clerics and priests to perform exorcisms if necessary.
There is not any accurate record of the number of exorcisms that have been performed over the years. However, researchers have concluded that there were only a small number of exorcisms performed for the many centuries leading up to 20th century. The 20th century saw a dramatic rise in the number of exorcisms, and the reason for this is commonly agreed upon. That reason is the rise of the information age. The first cause of the increase in the popularity of possession is a man by the name of Malachi Martin. Martin was a Jesuit professor who resigned his high-ranking position in the Church, and began writing books about demons and possession. These books became only mildly popular, however, they did succeed in sparking Americans curiosity in Exorcism. When the movie The Exorcist was released in 1973, the United States saw a dramatic rise in cases of possession. While only a few of these cases were actually confirmed by the church as demonic possessions, the public still had a new love for this affliction.
Today, all of the truth and values of exorcism is defined in the Bible. The Church does not prohibit anyone from attempting to perform an exorcism, but still stresses the importance of Church regulated investigation. The New Catholic Encyclopedia stresses that each case be carefully examined in order to, “distinguish genuine possession from certain forms of disease.” The Church also stresses that exorcisms should take place in a holy building, however, many exorcisms do not. The Catholic Church also promotes the use of certain tools during an exorcism. Such tools include fasting, confession and communion, holy water, and crucifixes. Also, as a rule, if the expulsion of the evil spirit is not obtained at once, the rite should be repeated, if need be, several times. Many other cultures may view possession and expulsion in different ways; however, Catholic mandate requires that all of these things be done during a Christian-style exorcism.
While all of the emphasis during the exorcism is placed upon the teachings of the Bible and Jesus Christ. Traditional authority does not have as much influence as it once did. Today, anyone can and does perform exorcisms. Therefore, a rating of 5 is rational because the emphasis is on the belief not on the traditional authority.
Because exorcism is based on Catholic belief, the centralized authority is and will always be the Catholic Church and the pope. However, today, since both Protestant and Catholic clergy perform exorcisms, a score of 10 cannot be awarded.
Exorcism requires a belief in three things. God, Jesus, and the devil. All of the emphasis lies on these three things, which can either be visible or invisible. In order for one to be cured of a possession, one must have faith in the invisible hand of God and Jesus acting on their behalf. However, there is a great deal of emphasis on the exorcist as the actual healer, which leads to a score of 8.
The goal of an exorcism is to free someone from physical ailments. Those who are possessed by demons experience a great deal of physical problems as well as inflict physical pain on those around them during possession. Today, many people undertake exorcisms because they believe that it is spiritually freeing. In other words, many people have exorcisms because it gives them a strong since of spirituality. Therefore, one cannot assume that exorcism has no spiritual objective.
Christian belief requires that all things happen because of the will of God and Jesus Christ. Therefore, for the most part, all power is reserved for the divine in the Christian religious system. However, when an exorcism is performed, a great deal of power is given to the exorcist, who is an agent of the Lord.
Works Cited
Cuneo, Michael W. American Exorcism. New York: Doubleday, 2001.
De Certeau, Michel. The Possession at Loudin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Catechism of the Catholic Church. New York: Image Doubleday, 1995.
New Catholic Encyclopedia. Online resource: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/.
Works Consulted
Allen, Thomas B. Possessed: The True Story of An Exorcism. New York: Doubleday, 1993.
Ferguson, Everett. Demonology of the Early Christian World. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1984.
Goodman, Felicitas D. How About Demons? Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1988.
Oesterreich, T.K. Possession: Demonical & Other. Secaucus: University Books, 1966.