Exorcists Sound the Alarm

The International Association of Exorcists, an association founded in 1994 and recognized in 2014 as a private association of the faithful of pontifical right, is intended primarily to serve priests who exercise the ministry of exorcist in the Catholic Church. It brings together more than 900 exorcists, as well as 130 auxiliaries.
On January 6, 2025, the Association published a document to offer “some observations on certain pastoral practices” that have gone astray, which distort or disregard the instructions of the Church and the elements of prudence that must surround the exercise of the delicate ministry of the exorcist.
The Increase in Demand
The text notes the increase in requests from people “convinced that they are victims of an extraordinary action of the devil, in one of his various forms.” But sometimes, the intervention of incompetent third parties, lacking discernment, disrupts the regular examination of the case. This is why exorcists provide ten clarifications “to shed light on certain reprehensible situations.”
1. Warning against improvisation and the search for sensationalism
Some priests, consecrated persons, and lay people implement arbitrary means not authorized by the competent ecclesiastical authority. “Even more serious is when they dissuade the faithful from turning to the official exorcist of their diocese, suggesting that they look for other notable exorcists considered ‘more powerful’ or claiming alleged extraordinary demonic activity that they have detected.”
2. Obsession with Demons
Some of these persons “focus their attention exclusively on the presence and work of the devil.” They neglect faith, prayer, the sacramental life, and the practice of charity, which have always been presented as the best weapons against the devil. They think that “liberation depends solely on a compulsive repetition of prayers and blessings.”
3. Negligent Discernment
“Some priests, including exorcists, neglect ‘the serious and rigorous discernment prescribed by the Praenotanda (directives) of the Rite of Exorcisms,’ and use “criteria foreign to the Catholic faith, validating concepts of esoteric or New Age origin.” This approach is “unacceptable and contrary to the faith and doctrine of the Church," the document notes.
4. Superstitious
The document attacks those who use “superstitious procedures,” asking for photos or clothing to identify possible evils, touching “certain points of the body of the member of the faithful to ‘diagnose the presence of malignant entities,’ or suggesting an improper use of sacramentals such as water, salt, or blessed oil.” These incorrect attitudes feed a superstitious mentality and practice.
5. Involvement of Inappropriate Persons
“It is unacceptable that some priests. . . collaborate with so-called ‘psychics’ or supposed charismatics” by sending to them the suffering person instead of directing them to the official exorcist. Sometimes, “it is the diocesan exorcist himself who delegates to these figures the task that the Church has entrusted to him of discerning a real demonic action, and even lets himself be guided by them to free suffering people from the evil one.”
Such behavior is obviously contrary to the mission of the exorcist, whose task it is to discern and use the means given by the Church to fight against the demon.
6. Contempt for Medical and Psychological Sciences
In discernment, “the exorcist not only follows traditional criteria to determine whether a person is suffering from an extraordinary action of the devil but also relies on the experience of established exorcists and, in some cases, ‘on the advice of people who are experts in medicine and psychiatry.’” These “can help to understand the origin of ills that are not necessarily of preternatural origin.” Refusing to do so exposes the faithful to unnecessary risks, even to serious dangers.
7. Harmful Statements
The text also notes that “the anxious desire to identify at all costs an extraordinary demonic action as the operative cause of a [someone’s] suffering,” whose origin is unknown, without serious discernment, is not only futile, but can also lead to harm. Particularly if it is in fact a question of illnesses that have not been cured.
8. The Question of Witchcraft
The association notes that “although the practice of witchcraft has become widespread, one must not fall into ‘the fearful attitude’ of seeing in it the origin of all the evils and misfortunes that can befall a person.” This behavior not only risks launching a search for those who are supposedly at fault, but also engenders suspicion, even hatred, often gratuitously.
We must rather offer the help of prayer and recall the power of divine grace in all trials, and the fact that God is the master of everything that happens, whether He wanted it or allowed it. Finally, we must accept these trials to configure ourselves to the suffering Christ.
9. Healing the Family
Some priests, and even some exorcists, “carry out this practice as a sine qua non condition, without which there can be no healing or liberation, without realizing the harm to their faith, as well as the consequences for people.” These practices have no biblical or theological foundations. It is a poor copy of what the Mormons do.
10. Banishing Fear
The exorcist must be an agent of peace that comes from Christ. It is necessary to fight against the fear that the devil uses to reduce man to his mercy. A priest who is afraid of the devil will not be able to exercise the ministry of exorcism without exposing himself to serious dangers, especially if he fights this fear with more or less superstitious practices.
The document ends with general considerations on society and the way in which it perceives the office of exorcist today, especially through the films that have seized on it, and on the need for a solid Christian life, the best foundation for keeping the devil away from oneself.
(Source : Association internationale des exorcistes – FSSPX.Actualités)
Illustration : Association internationale des exorcistes