Exorcisms

[Mystic_Warrior]

I would love to meet a priest who is a real exorcist

I doubt that you will unless you have need of one. They don’t advertise themselves or go around doing speaking tours. There are some non-Catholic ones like Bob Larson who travel quite a bit.

Peace…

MW

 

[da_nolo]

It is my understanding that a Muslim is a follower of Islam. The Mirriam=Webster dictionary defines “Muslim” as “An adherent of Islam”. Not every Arab is Muslim, and not every Muslim is an Arab, but every Muslim is an adherent of Islam.

the webster dictionary is western, I’m talking about an Islamic view point, not western ideaology. to us there is a definition and simply that…muslim is islamic, however you may be muslim and not Islamic. This is another piece of information that is obtained through a conversation with a follower of Islam. In simple terms, it would follow “rectangle is a square but a square is not a rectangle” idea.

 

[Walden]

I would love to meet a priest who is a real exorcist

All priests are “real” exorcists. What I mean is that all priests have the faculties and authority to perform exorcisms due to their ordination.

However, I think what you are getting at is that there are some who “specialize” (that’s probably not the best word for it). For instance, my priest has mentioned that he referred someone to the Archdiocesan “person in charge of exorcisms” (again, my vocabulary fails me).

 

[rsesar]

I’m not sure what it has to do with Exocisms’ but I always felf that Islam was the religion and someone who followed it was a muslim. Just like Christianity is a religion and a person that follows it is a Christian. I thought that anyone who followed the religion of Islam was a Muslim.

 

[hope_7]

Walden

I was thinking that there were only certian priests that were set apart to perform exorcisms (Im talking about major ones where the priest takes a person through the full rite. I am not talking about the minor ones.) I did not realise that it was ok for any priest to do this. I did not think this was allowed.

What is it that they are looking for when they put the person under a medical and psycological examination? Is it just to see if they are healthy enough and that they have a sound mind before they start?

How do they know when to perform a minor exorcism or a major one?

 

[Walden]

I’m not sure what it has to do with Exocisms’ but I always felf that Islam was the religion and someone who followed it was a muslim. Just like Christianity is a religion and a person that follows it is a Christian. I thought that anyone who followed the religion of Islam was a Muslim.

That is my impression as well. A person who is a follower of Islam is called a muslim. You can’t be a muslim if you don’t follow Islam.

Getting back on topic though, I heard somewhere (so it obviously has to be true) that each diocese has one or more “head exorcists” (there has to be an official title). That is to say, all suspected cases of possession are referred to these “specialists”. As I said above, this was tacitly confirmed by my priest.

Anyone know more?

 

[Walden]

Walden

I was thinking that there were only certian priests that were set apart to perform exorcisms (Im talking about major ones where the priest takes a person through the full rite. I am not talking about the minor ones.) I did not realise that it was ok for any priest to do this. I did not think this was allowed.

What is it that they are looking for when they put the person under a medical and psycological examination? Is it just to see if they are healthy enough and that they have a sound mind before they start?

How do they know when to perform a minor exorcism or a major one?

I think I halfway answered that in the post I just posted, but I really have no idea. Exorcist was a Minor Order back in the day. I just assumed that’s when a person was entrusted with that power.

It’s my impression that, as a general rule, any priest can perform an exorcism, but it has developed such that only a few specialize in it now.

 

[beckycmarie]

In order for a priest to administer the Solemn Rite of Exorcism, he has to be given permission from his bishop to do so. Unfortunately there aren’t many appointed exorcists in the United States. According to one of them, Fr. James LaBar in an article from September of 2000, “Today if there are a half-dozen dioceses that have an officially appointed exorcist that would be a lot,” he said. “There’s a growing demand, and we don’t have the manpower to meet it.”

(Source: Exorcism: Ancient ministry attracts new practitioners)

From my experience in deliverance ministry, it doesn’t seem that the situation has improved since 2000. We often hear that people couldn’t get help in their diocese due to the lack of an exorcist.

 

[Cluny]

Remember that what one person here called “major exorcism” is a LAST RESORT, when all medical, psychological, and psychiatric efforts have failed to alleviate or account for such odd phenomena associated with the need for exorcism.

 

[Walden]

Thanks for the answers guys. Am I correct that “Exorcist” was a Minor Order in the past?

If so, where was it on the hierarchy of ordination?

 

[Mystic_Warrior]

Thanks for the answers guys. Am I correct that “Exorcist” was a Minor Order in the past?

If so, where was it on the hierarchy of ordination?

Here is the Original Catholic Encyclopedia link to “exorcist”:

oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Exorcist

You will see that it is a minor order. But, it wasn’t always confined to just clerics in the early church, but evolved into what it is today in the Western Church where only an ordained priest with the permission from the Bishop may perform a major exorcism.

Peace…

MW

 

[reff]

I was reading up on Possession just for some research. And one thing I notice was that in most of the cases, it started out as the Possessed person getting interested in the dark arts and it’s practices. In many cases the victim started doing something as little as using a Ouija board with friends. People underestimate the evil of Ouija. It opens the door, even after using it one time. It’s scary how many kids, and people I even know who go to college with me, who start getting interested in Ouija and Tarot. They don’t realize that once that door’s open things can start to snowball into something as bad as possession.

 

[DigitalAnarchy]

When does it come to the point when a priest has to perform an exorcism? Why does this happen to people?

“Hostage to the Devil” by Malachi Martin is a very good book on the subject. Martin tells stories of exorcisms cases, he even interviewed the person that came under possession and the priest that performed it. There’s also a technical section on the rules and procedures for exorcisms.

I’ve read some replies where people have mentioned dark arts as being a cause of possession, but I’ve also read of cases where a person didn’t do anything wrong but still became possessed. Sometimes some dark art may have been performed in a home that the victim moves into or for some unknown reason the house was under demonic infestation and the unsuspecting victim comes under attack through no fault of their own. I’ve also read in “Interview With an Exorcist” which is an interview with Fr. Fortea that people can in fact use curses to send demonic entities towards someone.

I wouldn’t recommend reading these late at night by yourself though, will give you some goosebumps. Not that it’s something to be afraid of, but still a bit scary.