What right does the Catholic Church have to lay grounds and regulations about what merits an exorcism and what does not?
Jesus and his disciples performed exorcisms many times and did not ask a central religious body for permission.
If a demon is possessing someone then an exorcism should be carried out straight away.
Asked by Charlotte Law
5 replies on “What Right Does The Catholic Church Have to Decide What Merits an Exorcism?”
It’s all down to human ego, Charlotte – and the obsession the Catholic Church has with power and dominion over the masses.
What you have to remember is; – if it takes 72 exorcism attempts to try and rid a person of a ‘demon’ (Annalise Michael) and still fail then, in all likelyhood, that person is not possessed by a demon in the first place.
I agree – and not just demons either – an earthbound spirit or daemon can also possess or part-possess or influence in a negative way. The sooner the problem at hand is sorted out, the better for everyone.
concerned …. including the spirit.
AJ
x
Hello Charlotte,
The Catholic church is not the only one who lays down rules for who should and shouldn’t be exorcised. I’ve met plenty of people who have been turned away from other churches as well.
The central authority in the Jesus’ time was Jesus, and demons were cast out in his name. After he was dead, Paul and James went on to found the other churches, although the Catholics swear it was Peter who was ‘the rock’, the founding ‘father’ of their group.
And, truthfully, it is us that empowers the churches to demand we follow their rules, because we refuse to accept responsibility for what we create for ourselves. We give them the power, and then get angry when they don’t do what we want? Oh, you and I might not have done that, but the Catholics were once the greatest ‘church’ in the western world .. and our ancestors made them that way.
I agree with AJ about control, but I do understand the church’s need for caution, and rules. An exorcism, particularly if you are a ‘believer’, is an emotionally destructive process that can send a person insane, rather than being of any benefit to them. If we want to have a slanging match over who should or shouldn’t, do exorcisms, I can give you a list. Some minister in America has trained his teen/early 20’s daughters to do them, just to start with. If those kids ever went within 100 feet of a real demon .. they’d be needing help too.
Yes, everyone, in dire emergencies, can call on the power of Jesus Christ, or whichever deity they honour, to help release demons from people, but should they do it? The answer is no. The entities that we call demons, are not like daemons or earth bound spirits. Until you’ve actually experienced it personally, no amount of explaining the different can make it real. The exorcists of the Catholic church are trained specifically for the work, and must confront the truth of their own souls before walking into situations like that, as must we. I am just really grateful there are not that many truly possessed people in the world, and the whole process of getting them free of true demons, must include psychological counselling, which is what the Catholics ask for first .. an assessment to see if the person is possessed, or simply mentally ill.
Yes, I have been an exorcist .. though I do not like that word. I have touched heaven and hell (home for demons, not humans), and dealt with all manner of rescue work in lost souls, and even met a daemon or far too many. LOL I began my ‘training’, through Spirit, as a very small child. I am not affiliated with any church. People come to me when the church will not help them, but not everyone can be helped. It’s a very complicated subject.
There is no point in being angry at the churches for choosing not to help, it is totally self-defeating. Anger just feeds the negativity around us, and we have enough of that to deal with already, without creating more.
Wishing you a lovely day,
Love & Peace
Ama Nazra (listed below under Friends)
Why would Jesus have to ask a central religion? So I’m going to disregard that part of the question. And as for his Apostles, why would they have to ask a central religion? They were with Jesus.
But now to move on, I suppose you mean after Jesus left them. See here’s the thing: All Catholics, whether you want to believe it or not, can trace the Catholic Church back to when Jesus made Peter “the rock” that He would “build his Church upon.” So it’s not really that they say what constitutes an exorcism or not, it’s more like they know what to do as they’ve been doing it. Obviously it won’t always work. I don’t see why you think because it doesn’t always work then that must mean that the Catholic Church is automatically wrong. That’s like saying that if the Patriots, an American NFL team, lose, then that makes them terrible even though they aren’t.
As far as the whole power thing. Yes there are some people who will always abuse power. Tell me any institution, no matter how big or small or what country it is in, that does not have members that will abuse power.
An it isn’t exactly about merit Charlotte.
It’s about requirements met for actually being a possession.
Not all possessions are actually legitimate.
There is some mental illnesses that have the look of a possession, but are proven false through some tests.
The reason some people are turned down is multiple trained exorcist priests have checked and made a decision based on their teachings and on the “patient”.
The reason they wouldn’t exercise everyone without checking, is someone else is out there actually possessed and needs the attention ASAP.
If you want to learn more about it there is a book actually written by an Exorcist priest.
amazon.com/Exorcist-Tells-His-Story/dp/0898707102
Multiple people have suggested it to me.
Actually, that’s a very interesting book. I have it on my shelves here, among many others.
Thanks for your comment, A-Catholic
Love & Peace
Ama