Gonzaga Witness

Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: Faith

Exorcism is the formal prayer of the Church, presided over by specially instructed priests, to drive demons out of persons. The whole process is overseen and authorized by the bishop, though the care of the allegedly demonically attacked person is usually delegated to the aforementioned trained priests. Yes, in the modern world we are aware that many physical and mental conditions were in the past mistaken for demonic possession, epilepsy or schizophrenia for example, but that does not mean possession is unreal. Again, evil is very real and ignorance of that fact only helps the cancer grow. Again, realism is required and the Church is careful to investigate claims of demonic possession, often bringing in secular experts, and takes great care to refer the ill to medical care and exorcize only those whose problem is truly demonic. The Church takes this practice very seriously; just as war seems glorious to everyone but the soldiers.
The text of the rite is readily available in various media, and is nowhere near as dramatic as Hollywood depicts it. I suppose, in practice and given the nature of the situation, demons being evil and all, the performance of the rite could be rather intense, but still surely nowhere as elaborate as we have seen in film. The ritual itself, so far as my cursory research turned up, consists of prayers of deliverance (asking God to save the victim), employment of holy water and other sacramentals, and outright commands that the demon leave the victim. To a great degree, as with all Catholic rites, this all is done in the context of constant recitation of scripture, especially the Psalms, and referencing of it in the various composed prayers of the rite. This said, the rite is fairly adaptable, and those priests trained in its use know what the proper adaptations are.
Revelation 12:10-12 calls Satan the "Accuser of our brothers… who night and day accused them before God" but also notes that he was "cast out…by the blood of the Lamb and the word of [the martyrs' and saints'] testimony." Evil is a defeated army that stubbornly and spitefully refuses to surrender; it can still do damage. Yet, at the end of the day, we have been redeemed. Satan cannot accuse us as long as we depend on Christ our brother and savior, Mother Church, and-above all-on our Heavenly Father. We need not be paralyzed in fear, but realize the truth that demonic activity exists in our world and will until our King returns.

Brian Thompson is a senior at Gonzaga
and a seminarian at Bishop White

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