Catholic Priests and Exorcism

[jesusandyou]

In India there are recorded pre-1970 incidents of Catholic Priests doing exorcisms. (You might have seen a different version in some of the English movies.) Some of these exorcisms included Catholic priests doing something against the devil. In my opinion it is some kind of witchcrafts. Yes, I have met people who have gone to Catholic priests to nullify the witchcrafts that have been done against them.

Where do these Catholic Priests learn exorcisms and witchcrafts? Is it part of the Curriculum?

[royston]

Hi Jesusand you...

I think you have confused witchcraft and exorcism. The former is not Christian, but exorcism is very much part of the Catholic church. As far as I am aware, two priest in Mumbai (Fr Rufus and Fr A.V.D'Souza) are authorised and empowered by the Catholic church to conduct exorcisms. I personally have not witnessed an exorcism conducted by them, but I have been told that they do conduct exorcisms when the need exists. However, I am not aware about special training they might have undergone for this charism.

Royston

[secretman]

Wanna know what an exorcism is? please check out this website, the fomous spanish exorcist Padre Jose Antonio Fortea guides this site:

specialized catholic web about possession and exorcism

U can also make question to him:

fort939@yahoo.es

Thanks and may God Bless U all!

[jesusandyou]

I know what is witchcraft. What I said in my previous message is that there are Catholic Priests of Yester Years who have done witchcraft. I mean the same thing the magicians used to do to deliver a devil to you.

So, what I can understand now is that the Priest don't get training to do exorcism. But they can practice it with the permission of the Church. I read in a news last year that even Pope did exorcism in his lifetime. So what kind of proofs the Priest need to show to have the permit. I know the Priest may not able to show the casted out demon   to the Church, is there some other proofs that will satisfy the Church?

Who can do exorcisms on Catholic Priests?

What Melody has to say about exorcism?

Melody,

From your experience at Tabore, have you seen exorcisms there? How do you categorize what’s happening similar to exorcisms there in Tabore? Do you call it deliverance or exorcisms? I mean delivering the people from the demons.

[Matthias]

Technically, ANY priest can do an exorcism, but the "rules" are that he must obtain permission from his bishop. In most dioceses, when an exorcism is needed, the duty falls to a small number of priests who have experience with this (so the bishop would probably not give permission to an untrained priest except in extreme circumstances). There is no "permit" - the bishop knows who these guys are. These priests personally train other priests (at the bishop's direction) as they become too old to continue their duties.

As far as the procedures go, it does not matter if the possessed person is a priest or not.

In modern society, many Chrisitans have a notion of "casting out demons" which means to help someone overcome sinful habits (drinking, drugs, etc) or to be healed of some disease, and in some cases they will use the word "exorcism" to describe this. The Catholic Church does not use these terms in this way. An exorcism is a very serious thing.

Oh, not only did priests of yester years dabble in the occult - it still happens today. There is no sin that priests are not also succeptible to. But I think this is rare.

[DavidFilmer]

Matthias, who are you quoting?

[Rev. Eric]

For the sake of this discussion, I thought it would be good to clarify some terms associated with exorcisms and spiritual warfare.

Exorcism: A sacramental (as opposed to a sacrament) of the Church.  An exorcism calls upon the authority that Jesus gives His Church to cast out evil spirits.  Bishops are empowered to perform exorcisms by the nature of their office.  A bishop may delegate this to a priest, and empower a priest to perform an exorcism.  A priest cannot do this unless empowered by a bishop.

Deliverance Prayer:  Praying to God to intervene and rescue someone from evil spirits.  Technically, anyone can do this, but the term "deliverance prayer" is normally used in the context of baptized Christians beseeching God's aid.

Whereas both exorcisms and deliverance are powerful forms of spiritual combat, there is an even better way of combating the devil and his fallen angels.  The best way for a Catholic to combat the devil is by making a good confession in the Sacrament of Penance and then receiving the Eucharist.  My source for this is Fr. Gabriel Amorth, the chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome.  To this I would add that the Eucharist, in all cases, should be received with an open heart by someone who is actively participating in the liturgy at hand.

Despite the power of exorcisms and deliverance prayers, they are still sacramentals and not sacraments.  Therefore, they do not provide special sacramental graces.  Both Penance and the Eucharist are sacraments, and, of course, the Eucharist is Christ Himself, given to us as food to nourish us and spiritually empower us.

This is a very comforting thought at times when we are afflicted by the devil.  After all, it is a lot easier to go to Confession and Mass than it is to get an exorcism.

God bless,
-Rev. Eric

[soft]

Exorcism is usually a term used for casting out demons from person possessed.  Possession is considered a rare occurrence.  Therefore, exorcism is an rarely used ritual, for people who are totally controlled by evil spirits.  It is only allowed by the bishop after a thorough study, medical tests, psychological tests, etc., when everything normal is excluded (that too if the bishop not modernist).  Because of the modern unspiritual seminary education nowadays, very few Latin priests are able to believe in spirits, angels or exorcisms.