Catholic Exorcisms

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. What did you do overnight? Did you have any crazy experiences? Did you perhaps listen to a very very very very interesting, crazy strange podcast. I mean, after you listen to mine, which is not crazy or strange, may not even be interesting, But after you listen to mine, did you go listen to something pretty crazy, pretty strange, but very interesting. Did you Do you have any idea what I'm talking about? Well, if you weren't listening late last night, then you have no clue what I'm talking about. But I'm going to fill you all in as we talk about something I think very interesting, very important, and well we're going to do that right after I tell you that. It is Wednesday, November thirteenth, twenty twenty four. It is currently ten nineteen am Central time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas.

1:20 For the last several years, the Catholic Church has noted and an alarming increase and the number of exorcisms performed and for some of the most disturbing and vicious cases of possession. One priest is often summoned. With almost two decades in ministry, renowned priests, Father Carlos Martin's has encountered evil in nearly every way imaginable, from Luigi boards and curses to witches and demonic packs. Father Martin's has battled the ancient serpent in many forms. The Exorcist Files are his stories. Now, late last night, I went live and I told everyone about this podcast called The Exorcist Files.

2:15 And the reason it caught my attention is because, as of last night, it was number fourteen on the Spotify podcasting chart, and I'm like, whoa where did this come from? It has passed all kinds of other podcasts to make it to number fourteen, The Exorcist Files. And these are the files well of a priest who has been involved in some very let's just say, crazy situations. Now, you can believe the files, you can be skeptical of the files, you can question them, you can just completely reject them. But either way, it is very interesting to note that over the last several years, the Catholic Church has noted an alarming increase and the number of exorcisms performed. Why has there been this dramatic increase. Is it psychological, is it spiritual? Is it? What's going on? But well, not only what is going on to lead to that? Well, what happened? What happened during these exorcisms? What was the story leading up to the exorcisms? What was going on?

3:25 So I played the trailer for you late last night, told everyone to go check it out, and of course, as soon as I finished my broadcast, well, the next thing you know, I was laying in bed with the lights out listening to the first episode ever of The Exorcist Files. And ladies and gentlemen. Wow, okay, Wow, is all I can say. I mean, I don't know. I don't want to give everything away. Let's just say the story involves a woman who cannot get pregnant, and the next thing you know, she's collecting dead bugs and then moves from bugs to well, it just gets crazy. Okay, it gets absolutely crazy, and it's the story of everything that happens. And wow, I mean you can go listen to it yourself. Now be warned. The Exorcist Files, I mean it's dealing with obviously a very intense subject, and some of the language in it is, you know, recounting what was said, and well, so obviously some of the language may be offensive to some of you. So if you do choose to go listen to it, I mean you're listening to some intense things and it's dramatized as well, so obviously some of it is not meant for, you know, children to be around. But if you go listen to it, you're kind of opening the door not only into this idea of Satan and demons and demonic possession and exorcisms,

4:55 you're also opening the door into Catholic theology. Well, this is the Theology Central podcast, so that's right up my alley, right, And not only that. As many of you know, I attended a Catholic university pursuing a degree in Catholic theology, so that whenever I speak about Catholicism, I could do so at least from some level of knowledge and not from just complete ignorance or just from hearsay or what you know. I think I know trying to at least have some true understanding. By no means of mine an expert on Catholicism, not claiming that in any way, shape or form, but I have spent a lot of time trying to understand it and especially in this area of exorcisms.

5:42 So because we talked about the Exorcist Files, I told everyone to go listen and hopefully you'll listen to at least the first episode is part one. It's two parts, and you can go listen to it and see what you think about it. The episode is called in fact, I have it right here. It is called No Life Without Death Case one, No Life Without Death Part one, No Life Without Death Part one, the Exorcist Files. This episode one was released on January the twenty fifth, twenty twenty three. So you can go listen and see what you think. Again, be warned. I'm giving you every warning possible that I can give you. Some of you may find it offensive, some of you may find the content disturbing.

6:38 Just note that there's language and just no. I mean, it's dealing with the demonic, it's dealing with this whole concept. And would I would as always tell you, hey, be skeptical, be questioning. But I thought what I could do this morning is we'll try to add some broader context. Right, I thought I could try to add some broader context. So I put together a lot of things. I did try to look for some of my textbooks and notes from school, because, as I stated late last night, the whole concept of the Catholic Church and exorcisms and demon possession.

7:20 Have always been interested in it when I look at the and this is just trying to give full transparency. Whenever I would see in the non Catholic world right, and the and the so called Protestant world and many who gets involved in deliverance and casting out demons and some of that, I always felt that it it gave me more of a sense of a production and fraudulent and what is this nonsense? And it came across just I don't know, I didn't, I didn't. I just never took any of it very serious. And a lot of it was connected to the Charismatic Church and charismatic theology.

8:03 And you already know how I feel about charismatic theology. I think it's insane, it's crazy, and I think so much of what they do is just one big production and it's just fake. And how many how many times have they been you know, their healings and miracles have proven to be fraudulent over and over and over again. So I never gave that much. I just kind of always was dismissive of that. But when it comes to the Catholic Church and there are stories of exorcisms and some of that, I always felt, by no means do I agree with the theology, but I always felt like maybe I would love to be more or at least be able to witness their approach to it and actually see it and come face to face with it, because when we look, I mean, I think we can be honest with this. We all as Christians, we open our Bible and we hear about, you know, we're in a spiritual war, and we're like a man, we're in a spiritual war. Satan roam's about as a roaring line seeking whom he made devour. That's true. There are demons, there's Satan.

9:07 We know all of that. But I believe so much of it is theoretical, right, it's theoretical. I mean, oh, people have their stories, but so many times their stories you can't really get much information, right. So I'm always skeptical about some stories where people supposedly have some encounter with the demonic or with the Satan, or with you know, something that's satanic. I always feel like a lot of it is just what in the world are you talking about like it's just crazy stuff? Like I remember some story back when he Back when I was a teenager, it was popular here in West Texas for churches to have these, you know, Friday night rock conferences where they told you about the evils of rock music, and on Saturdays they would hold a big, you know, bonfire and where you burn all your records. Crazy stuff. But I would go to the rock conferences for almost entertainment. I remember our stories. Someone was listening to Hell's Bell by ac DC, and demons came out of the speakers, and I'm like, what in the name of bubblegum are you talking? Like?

10:07 This is crazy stuff? Right? So I was always dismissive of it. But again, for some weird reason, stories about exorcisms within the Catholic Church are always took I may disagree with it, but I thought it just felt that it was more, there was something more to it. It felt like it had some sense of authenticity to it. It wasn't because within the Catholic Church there's rules before they can even do an exorcism, there's other things that must take place. So I always took it a little bit more serious, at least from my perspective. I'm not saying my perspective is right. I'm just saying that that's very true. So I remember hearing some of these stories. I thought it was crazy. But at the same time, I've always been like, we talk about Satan, we talk about demons, we talk about all of this stuff. I want to encounter it, like I really want to. I want to come face to face with it, because then that takes all of the theoretical and makes it real, makes it practical. I want to be there, right. So then when I, you know, was attending, you know, working on my pursuing a degree in Catholic theology, anytime I could take courses dealing with Satan or we're dealing with exorcisms or demonic possession, anything I could any anything I could pursue there, I would do my best to try to try to just to try to understand their perspective. Again, not saying I agree with it, but seeking to understand it.

11:35 So I thought, since I've told you about the Exorcist Files, and I want you to at least go listen to episode one, Part one, and part two, and then you can draw your own conclusion. Again, just be warned, there's some language. Be warned, the content is not meant for children. But you can listen to that first case file and go demonic or the woman just had some psychological problems. You can come to your own conclusion for yourself. But I thought we could step back and try to I could provide some context. Does that sound okay? So let's do this. The Catholic Church is teaching on exorcisms. On exorcism would be I think it would be claimed that it is rooted in scripture tradition. Of course, I mean, we're not shocked by that an official church doctrine. So if you want to understand the Catholic Church's teaching on exorcisms, well you would have to go to scripture, their tradition, and then the official doctrine of the Catholic Church, because and they're obviously their system, their theological system. The church is the one that has the authority to interpret the scriptures.

12:53 So you would consider the scriptures and line of how the Catholic Church would interpret them, and we'll talk about that maybe a little bit more. So I'm going to attempt to try to outline some of the key points and citations and quotes from authoritative text such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I have right here, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Right of Exorcism, and other official church documents. So that's what I'm going to try to cite the Catechism, the Right of Exorcism, and other official church documents so that we can have somewhat of an official understanding of what the Catholic Church teaches. Okay, Now, if you want, if you want just one simple thing to go to, if you have a copy of the Catholic Catechism, or if you look online. When you if you go online and it allows you to search by paragraph, you just need to find paragraphs sixteen seventy three and the Catholic Catechism, paragraph sixteen seventy three is the go to paragraph if you really want to get the Catholic understanding of exorcism. So I'll be referencing it multiple times and maybe reading it multiple times. All right, so let's start with this. Let's start with defining and understanding the purpose of exorcism within Catholicism. What is how do they

14:25 define an exorcism, and what is the purpose of exorcism. All right, So this gets to more of a philological explanation because in your mind, a lot of times I hear non Catholics say things about Catholic exorcisms and they and it's like sometimes when I hear them talking, I'm like, have you ever bothered to do I don't know, more than watch a movie. Have you ever bothered to actually study what they believe? Because everything you're saying is a misrepresentation. You're bearing false witness, and this is true. The I'm gonna I don't want to take too much of a detour, but I do in a sense want to go, you know, get up on my soapbox and go on a mini rant. Here. Look, I don't care if you're talking about in fact, I'll pick it up right here. I don't care if you're talking about Satanism of the Anton Levey type of Satanism based right here on the Satanic Bible, right have the Satanic Bible right here. I don't care if you're talking about Satanism. If you're speaking of Satanism, whether I don't care if it's you as an individual doing so on social media. I don't care if you're sitting around talking to your friends. And I don't care if you're behind a pulpit as a pastor, if you're sitting there spreading lies, misinformation, and bearing false witness, that's a sin. I don't care.

15:47 It's wrong. You can't just throw out gossip, rumor in the window, half truths. I don't care. If it's about Catholicism. I don't care. If it's about Islam, I don't care if it's about Satanism. You either speak the truth or don't speak. That's the way it should be. Now. It's one thing to think you know, speak, realize you don't know, and go back and correct. That's a mistake. But it's just when people start speaking as if they're experts on something, is like, what are you even talking about? That's not even the way, that's not even remotely accurate. And it doesn't matter what doctrinal system you're referring to. If you hate Calvinism, when you speak of it, at least speak of it fairly, accurately represent it in a correct way.

16:36 If you are a Calvinist and you hate a non Calvinist perspective, at least be honest with it, speak of it carefully. It doesn't matter the philological system. We have to do that. So that's why we're going to try to look at official documents within the Catholic Church, the Catechism, the Right of Exorcism, and other official church documents, so that we can at least try to have an understanding of it from a truthful perspective. All right, so let's try to define and understand the purpose of exorcism within a Catholic perspective. I'm trying to make sure i'm explaining that, Okay, I am not saying whether I agree or disagree. You'll obviously if I disagree, you will hear. But I obviously don't agree with everything the Catholic Church teaches in regards to exorcism because it's very very much based on a sacramental system, right, especially what they call a minor exorcism, which is baptism, which we'll talk about here in a minute.

17:39 Are you ready, Let's define exorcism. Our definition exorcism is a sacramental right. Told you, it's a sacramental system. It's a sacramental right by which the Church and the name of Jesus Christ liberates a per person object from demonic influence or possession, now I believe. Let me look here at the Catechism. I think it also mentions a place. Yes, okay, I was getting ready, I was getting ready to quote from I should have just taken the full quote from the Catechism. I was trying to summarize it. But it does deal with a person and object, but it also deals with the place. So let me quote from sixteen seventy three in the Catholic Catechism. Certain blessings have a lasting importance because they consecrate. Oh no, come sorry, paragraph sixteen seventy three. I'm reading sixteen seventy two. We don't need we don't need that context here, all right, sixteen seventy three, Right here we go. When the Church ask publicly and authoritatively, in the name of Jesus Christ, that a person or object, well, it doesn't name place here.

18:59 It doesn't mean place. I thought it named place. Hmm. Okay, see that's what sixteen seventy two mentions places. Sixteen seventy two mentions places. But that's dealing more with blessings, not exorcism. So sixteen seventy three does just mention person and object. All right, here we go sixteen seventy three. When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ, that a person or object be protected against the power of the evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism. So that's why I didn't put place down in the notes, because the catechism doesn't mention place, but in my mind I want to include place there.

19:48 But it's person and object. So when the Church, so when the Church in the name of Jesus Christ right authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ, a person or object be protected against the power of the evil One and withdrawn from his dominion. So you have this object, or you have this person, and you ask authoritatively in the name of Jesus that they be protected and be withdrawn from the dominion of Satan. That is an exorcism. You have a person, you have an object. Then the Church and the name of Jesus, in an authoritative way asked for that person and object to be protected and withdrawn from the dominion of Satan. That is an exorcism.

20:40 Within Catholicism, let me read it this way. An exorcism is a sacramental rite by which the Church in the name of Jesus Christ liberates a person or object from demonic influence or possession. So we have an even from a Catholic definition, even asking for the person to be protected from the influence of a demon or to be removed from the dominion of influence, that too could be classified as an exorcism, not just removing someone from dominion as far as possession is concerned. So that is the definition of exorcism within Catholicism. What is the purpose? Well, I think you just you now know the purpose, right.

21:28 The purpose is to free the individual from the influence of the devil and to affirm the victory of Christ over evil. So it's to the purpose is to free the individual I'm gonna say from it from influence or possession. Influence or possession, because the whole idea in exorcism is the Church authoritatively, in the name of Jesus Christ ask for a person or object to be protected or to be withdrawn from the demon of Satan, and that dominion refers to influence or possession. So the purpose in exorcism is to free an individual from the influence or possession of the devil and to affirm the victory of Christ.

22:20 Over evil. That's that's as accurate as I can possibly be about that. And I apologize that I almost inserted the word place there. I still feel that there are some sources that mentions places. But what we will have to get into for now, the official documents just mentions objects and people. Right now, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I'm going to read all of sixteen seventy three. Now, the entire paragraph. I'm going to read the entire paragraph right, sixteen seventy three. This is the p If you want to understand Catholic teaching on exorcisms, you need paragraph sixteen seventy three. I'm going to read the entire thing. Here we go. When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively, in the name of Jesus Christ, that a person or object be protected against the power of the evil one and withdrawn from his dominion, it is or his dominion, it is called exorcism. Jesus performed exorcisms, and from him the Church has received the power and office of exercising. In a simple form, exorcism is performed at the celebration of baptism.

23:42 So I want to make sure we understand this in a simple form within Catholicism and Catholic theology, a simple exorcism is performed at the celebration of baptism. Now why because they see baptism as a sacrament. It's salvafic right. It washes away the original sin from an individual. It brings them into salvation. It brings them, it removes them from the dominion of Satan and brings them into the dominion of God. Baptism is not symbolic is it's actually effectual.

24:24 It's doing something. It's a means of grace. It's washing away sin and bringing salvation. So you take a person, they are baptized, they are being then seen as being protected and withdrawn from the dominion of Satan. They are now in a state of grace. Now, what you have to remember within Catholicism is there in a state of grace. But if they commit a mortal sin, then that grace in a sense is destroyed or lost. Now they are vulnerable for demonic influence and possession. In a sense, they have returned back to the dominion of Satan. That's why if a mortal sin is the and within Catholicism is the door that opens them up for demonic possession, So then they would have to go to you know, to confession and try to return back to a state of grace, right, because mortal sin destroys that. But baptism is the key. Right, baptism is a is an exorcism by definition. Right, Baptism within Catholicism is an exorcism because it's salvific, it's affect what's doing something. It's a means of grace, so that person is being protected and withdrawn from the dominion of Satan. So, in one sense, a baptism is an exorcism right now,

25:56 that's what's called a simple form. A solemn exorcism, called a major exorcism, can be performed only by a priest and with the permission of the bishop. The priest must proceed with prudence, strictly observing the rules established by the Church. Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church. Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different matter, treating this as the concern of medical science. Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the evil one and not an illness. So within the Catholic system, you can't just say, oh, that person is demonically possessed. They have to go through a psychological eventaluation to ascertain is this a psychological problem? Should this be resolved by medical science, by psychology or does this go beyond that? And is this now really the influence of demons or Satan? Is this possession? What is this some form of oppression? What is going on here? But in simple forms, the definition is you take a person,

27:28 you take an object, and the Church authoritatively, in the name of Jesus, seeks the protection and removal of that person or object from the dominion of Satan. That's an exorcism. There's a simple form, and there's a solemn form, a major form. You can say minor major. The minor is baptism. The major is a an exorcism the way you would think of one occurring, or at least having some idea. The purpose is obvious to free the individual from the influence, from the possession of the devil, and to affirm the victory of Christ. And the key paragraph is sixteen seventy three, sixteen seventy three. So there's the purpose, or there's the definition and the purpose of exorcism. Now, the types of exorcism.

28:18 I've already given this away a little bit, but let me just state it as its own specific point. The types of exorcism. Number one, a simple exorcism often used in the rights of baptism and other blessings where the prayer is for protection and the renunciation of Satan and sin. So even in a blessing where you're blessing someone or asking for protection of someone from Satan, that's a simple exorcism as well. So it could be a baptism, it could be a blessing over a person or an object. That's a simple exorcism. People don't understand that. They see, oh, you know, you're you're speaking and then the demon is speaking. No, it could be simply a blessing or a baptism, and that's a form of exorcism. So anyone who's been baptized as a baby in the Roman Catholic Church, you went through a simple exorcism. That was an exorcism. So if you were if you were born in a Catholic family and baptized as a baby. You can tell everyone you've gone through an exorcism, right, and I'll be like, oh, you have tell me all about it. Well, I don't remember much. I was eight days old and water was put on my head. What are you talking about? That's a simple form of exorcism. Or if you've ever received a blessing from a priest, like if you are a non Catholic and you go to Mass when it's time

29:49 for the eu Christ, you can go forward and if you'll stand there, cross your you know, like your right hand on your left shoulder, your left hand on your right shoulder, and just put your hands there. Right, you're you're, you're, you're coming, demonstrating that you you know, you cannot partake of eu Christ because you're not a Catholic. But the priest will then offer you a blessing. Well, that blessing, depending on what is said, could be a form of exorcism. Does that make sense. That's a simple exorcism, right. And for example and the right of baptism, it is there's something along the lines like do you reject Satan in all his works? So baptism, there's a formula there, there's a rite in there where that type of thing is stated. Now, a major exorcism, or sometimes refer to as a solemn exorcism, this is used when there is an evidence of demonic possession.

30:47 This can only be performed by a priest authorized by basically the bishop in charge of that diocese. The diocesan bishop is the only one who can authorize. It can't just be authorized by anyone. There's got to be an it's got to be authorized. And there's that's why I always fought the Catholic Church. It didn't come across so like sometimes in the President. Sure, anybody can just oh, you got a demon and an ima Jesus and you just start and he's like, what is happening here? There's no structure, it's just a it's just the wild, wild West. At least within Catholicism, there's a structure. There's a hierarchy, there's there's rules, there's there's something governing it. I may not agree with the theology, but at least that's why I always felt more intrigued by it. Uh. Now they quote from again, what do you guess what they're gonna quote from the Catholic Catechism, paragraph sixteen seventy three. I'm telling you sixteen seventy three know that paragraph. Right, here we go. The solemn exorcism, called a major exorcism, can be performed only by a priest and with the permission of the bishop. The priest. Let's proceed with prudence, strictly observing the rules established by the Church. So we've got the definition and purpose of an exorcism. We've got the types of exorcisms, which is simple and solemn, or minor

32:18 and major. Minor and major probably not their language, but simple and solemn would be more the Catholic language. Right then number three, the role of the of faith and sacraments. Exorcism relies on the faith of the person being exercised and the Catholic and the Church's intercessory power. The individual is encouraged to participate in the sacraments, especially confession and the Eucharist. So faith is important in the individual, and of course that faith in is to be exercised in the care and partaking in the sacraments and in confession, so that would be a major part of everything. What are the role of prayer and the sacraments within it?

33:12 Sacraments such as Holy water, crucifixes and prayers and prayers invoking God's protection. All of those things would be utilized. Right, So you have the role of faith a person believed, and then you have sacraments or sacrament tolls that's another word. So sacraments would obviously the sacrament could be the Eucharist, right, sacrament tolls would be holy water, a crucifix, and prayers invoking God's protection. Right, or the sacramentals would actually be holy water, crucifixes, and the prayer would be the prayers. You get the idea right now. This is from paragraph sixteen seventy three. The celebration of exorcism should be accompanied by sacrament, mental confession, holy communion, and especially by prayer and fasting. So you have the role of faith. I think you could call this the role of faith. Sacraments and sacramentals. These are objects things like holy water, a crucifix, those things would be utilized in it. Right. So Number one, we have the definition and purpose within Catholicism. Number two, we have the types of exorcism. We would call it simple and solemn. Number three the role of faith and sacraments.

34:36 The person needs to have faith. There needs to be partaking in confession in the Eucharist, and then sacramentos would be holy water, crucifix, and then of course the need for prayer. How about the signs of demonic influence. There's a criteria for for possession within Roman Catholicism, right, the church has guidelines to determine if an individual is possessed. There are clear guidelines that says, okay, these guidelines must be met to determine if a person is possessed. Here are these all, right? Number one, aversion to sacred objects.

35:20 A person has an aversion to any sacred object. They get it away from a kind of thing. I know that's very Hollywood, but this is one of the criteria. They would have an aversion of sacred objects. Knowledge of hidden things. The person demonstrates knowledge of something that they should not know, for example. Again, this all started because of the podcast The Exorcist Files. If you go to episode one, I think it happens in neither episode one or episode two, because it's two parts. The woman who the husband brings a priest to try to meet with her, she has has no idea that this man is being brought to the house. He's not wearing his clerical collar, he's not wearing. He's just wearing jeans and a T shirt.

36:08 And as soon as he walks in the house, she in a demonic voice refers to him as a priest and was like, well, how did she know he's a priest. Their claim is that knowledge was hidden, so therefore that would be an example of hidden knowledge. So so we have an aversion to sacred objects, knowledge of hidden things, and supernatural strength. All right, so here's some of the things that some of their guidelines are. Right, So here's their criteria for possession. Right, this is number four the sign of demonic influence. If I said that there are four, these are the signs given a version to a sacred object, knowledge of hidden things, and supernatural spray strength. And this comes from a book called ritual Romanem ritual Romanem. And this is like the book if you really want to get the source book on Catholic exorcism, ritual Romanum. It is spelled ritual r t u a l e r I t u a l e Romanem r O m a n um ritual romanem. And please note and it's I think most say it ritual Romanem. If you look at you almost want to say rituel, but Ritual Romanem.

37:33 If you look it up, you can find it online and it's an available in PDF file, or you can look on Amazon and buy a physical copy Ritual Romanem. If my memory serves me right, there are three volumes. The first volume is the Sacraments. The second volume I think has blessings and exorcism. So volume two would be the one you would want. I don't have it in front of me, but that's the one you want. Or you can look Ritual Romanem. I think Ritual Romanem exorcism, and you can probably find a PDF file of just the part about exorcism. In Ritual Romanem, it lists behaviors and phenomenon associated with demonic possession, emphasizing careful discernment by the priests. So in Ritual Romanem you get a list of all the behaviors to look for. But the main ones is an aversion to sacred objects, knowledge of hidden things, and supernatural strength, some kind of strength that no, but there's no explanation for right, So let's go through these again.

38:40 We've looked at the definition and purpose of exorcism. Now, if I had people in front of me, I would have everyone repeat the things I have said for review purposes, so hopefully you can do the review yourself. There the definition and purpose of exorcism. Number two, the types of exorcism, and that's a simple one review, simple and solemn. Number three the role of faith and sacraments and sacramentals. Right, so we have all of that. We have the signs of demonic influence, which is number four. But that doesn't mean there are four signs, but signs of demonic influence and their criteria, and that includes aversion of sacred objects, knowledge of hidden things, and supernatural strength. Number five Procedures and precautions and exorcism procedures and precautions and exorcism. Let's start with authorization. Only a priest with explicit permission from the bishop may perform a major exorcism. Now please note a major exorcism. Obviously, any normal priest can do a minor exorcism, which would be carrying out the right of baptism or a blessing. So a major exorcism or a solemn exorcism requires the permission or the giving the right

40:10 to do so by the bishop. All right, he must get explicit permission, explicit permissions. So when we talk about the procedures and percusions. We start with authorization number two. We go to discernment. The Church urges caution as psychological issues must be ruled out before diagnosing possession. You cannot say someone is possessed in the Catholic system until psychological issues have been completely ruled out. The psychological issues must be ruled out before you can proceed to say and diagnose this person is possessed. That's the way it's supposed to work. I do like those guidelines on it, right, I do like those guidelines because two many times in the non Catholic world, especially those who really go into spiritual warfare and demonic possession. Man, they're claiming any that person is possessed, that person is. And sometimes it could be they could be seeing a child is possessed who's just having psychological issues, and next thing you know, the child's being told to have a demon. I mean that would be that would be some really damaging things to occur.

41:25 Right now, quoting from ritual romanem I quote ritual romanom here we go. He should not easily believe that a person is possessed by an evil spirit. He should be fully informed about certain signs by which a person a person possessed can be distinguished from those or from one who suffers from some illness, especially one of psychological nature. That's Ritual Romanem. Again, that's the book if you want, I mean, the Catechism is key, paragraph sixteen seventy three, but Ritual Romanem is the book if you really want to understand the Catholic system of exorcism. Right, so, there's procedures and precautions. The procedure you need authorization, you need discernment, and the precaution is ensure that they have been psychologically examined to ascertain whether it's an actual possession or not. Now, the power of Christ and exorcism, the right of exorcism within Catholicism supposedly draws on the power of Jesus, who defeated Satan through his death and resurrection. During the rite of exorcism, the priests invokes Christ's authority, commanding the demon to depart. Once again, we go to paragraph sixteen seventy three, not sixteen seventy two, sixteen seventy three of the Catholic Catechism,

42:57 which I have right here opened before me, quoting from part of it. In exorcisms, the Church presents Christ as victor over the evil One, calling upon him for deliverance from the spirits who are a hostile to humanity. Number seven the role of the community and the intercession of the saints. The church encourages the faithful to pray and fast for those undergoing exorcisms. Invocation of saints. The priest often evokes saints and angels for their intercession. Now this just gets into a Catholic view that we would strongly disagree with. But this would be like pray to the saints, invoke the angels, pray for all of these other individuals to we pray to them, seeking their intercession on our behalf.

43:52 That's you know, we could get into a whole discussion how Catholics would explain that, but yes, they would bring that all into it. Ritual Romanem contains specific litanies and prayers that call upon saints to assist in the exorcism. So if you look at ritual Romanom, you're going to have these litanies, these prayers to this saint or to this or to this in order to help during the right of exorcism. So there's the role of the community. The community and they say that the community of the faith involves those present on earth and those in heaven. And just as you could go to the people on earth and say pray and intercede for this, you can go to those in heaven and say pray and intercede for this. That's how they would somewhat try to justify that idea. All right, limitations and respect for freedom Number eight.

44:49 The Church respects the dignity and freedom of each individual. Avoiding coercive or violent practices is not a magical cure, but a sacramental aid to encourage a life of faith. The Catholic Church would say, avoid superstition. Do not bring your superstitions to the concept of exorcism. Leave your superstitions out of it. Now. This comes from another church document, Instruction on Exorcism and Prayers for Healing. Instruction on Exorcism and Prayers for Healing. The Church warns against superstition and highlights the exorcism as a genuine practice rooted in faith and doctrine. Now, what are the key texts for exorcism.

45:49 I'm kind of giving them away. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, mainly paragraphs sixteen seventy three Ritual Romanum, the official book containing the Right of Exorcism, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Exorcism, and Prayers for Healing. This outline represents the official and careful, controlled approach of the Catholic Church towards exorcism, balancing respect for the individual, adherence to doctrine, and the invocation of Christ's power over evil. Now there is a basic overview of the Catholic Church's teaching on exorcism. You want to go through all of those points one more time. Number one, definition and purpose. I think I've made that very abundantly clear.

46:48 We understand the definition and purpose. Number two, the types of exorcism very easy to remember, simple and solemn, are minor and major. Right three, the role of faith and sacraments and sacramentals. Number four, the signs of demonic influence. All right, And there's a criteria that must be met, procedures and precautions. It must be an the priests must have authorization. You've got to discern to see make sure this is not a psychological issue. And the precaution is you've got to ensure that the person has been psychologically examined before you can diagnose possession. The power of Christ and exorcism. Christ is the conqueror of evil. The right draws on the power of Jesus, all right, the role of community and the intercession of the saints. People are to pray and fast, but they would also pray to saints and to angels. Number eight. Limitation and respect for freedom.

47:47 In other words, you've got to there's got to be some respect and dignity for the person. And there's no coercive or violent practices here. There's no trying to coerce someone or or using some violent practice. And you must avoid superstition. Within exorcism, the key text the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Ritual Romanum, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Exorcism and Prayers for Healing. Now we got a little bit of time. Let's look at some of the key paragraphs in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that addresses demonic possession, right, and exorcism. Now, obviously we're going to start in sixteen seventy three. Right, I've already read it once, We've had it quoted multiple times.

48:35 Let me read it one more time. Catholic Catechism sixteen seventy three. This is the paragraph I quote. When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively, in the name of Jesus Christ, that a person or object be protected against the power of the evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism. Jesus performed exorcisms and from the Church has received the power and office of exercising. In a simple form, exorcism is performed at the celebration of baptism.

49:18 The solemn exorcism, called a major exorcism, can be performed only by a priest and with the permission of the bishop. The priest must proceed with prudence and strictly observe the rules establishing established by the Church. Exorcism is a direct is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church. Illness, especially psychological illness, is very different matter, treating this as the concern of medical science. Therefore, before exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the evil One and not an illness Now you'll notice, depending on your copy of the Catechism to the right, there are three cross references paragraph three ninety five, paragraph three point fifty, and paragraph twelve thirty seven. So let's look at these cross references to the main paragraph about exorcism. Right, So let's go to paragraph three ninety five. We read this paragraph three ninety five from the Catholic Catechism. Here we go.

50:49 The power of Satan is nonetheless not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God's reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries of a spiritual nature and indirectly even of a physical nature to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence, which, with strength and gentleness, guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that Providence should permit diabolical activity, but we know that in everything God works for good for those who love him.

51:46 So it talks about what Satan can do. But please note it states that this to each man and to society. The action of Satan that could lead to physical and spiritual harm, of to grave injuries of a spiritual nature and indirectly even a physical nature to each man into society. The action is permitted by divine providence. God allows this, with which with strength and gentleness, guides human and cosmic history. God does this, and the Catechism says, it is a great mystery that Providence should permit diabolical activity, but we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him. That's a pretty powerful paragraph. Hey, Satan is limited in what he can do, but he has great power and strength. He can bring about some form of grave injury spiritually and physically. But God is the one who allows it. And it's a great mystery why he would even I love the fact that the Catechism at lest acknowledgeus. Hey, this is a great mystery. No one really understands this. So that's cross reference number one, and we're looking at paragraphs sixteen seventy three. That's the main paragraph about exorcism within Catholicism. Then they give a cross reference to paragraph three ninety five, which we just read.

53:18 Now let's look at paragraph five fifty, paragraph five fifty. Paragraph five fifty. We read this paragraph five fifty. The coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's. If it is by the spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus exorcisms free some individuals from the dominion of demons. They anticipate Jesus great victory over the rule of this world. The Kingdom of God will be definitively established through Christ's cross.

53:59 God God reigned from the wood. That's the quote. So let me read that again, paragraph five point fifty. The coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's. If it is by the spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus exorcisms free some individuals from the dominion of demons. They anticipate Jesus great victory over the rule of the world. The kingdom of God will be definitively established through christ cross. So the Kingdom of God will be established because through the cross of Christ. Therefore, the famous quote or the quote that's in the catechism, God reigned from the wood.

54:45 Or from the cross. Right, that's cross reference five fifty. Now cross reference paragraph twelve thirty seven. Twelve thirty seven. We read this twelve thirty seven. Since baptism signifies liberation from sin and from its instigator, the devil, one or more exorcisms are pronounced over the candidate. The celebrant then anoints him with the oil of catacumbins or lays his hands on him, and he explains explicitly renounces Satan. Thus prepared, he is able to confess the faith of the Church to which he will be entrusted by baptism. All right, so let me read that again. Since baptism signifies liberation from sin and from its instigator, the devil, one or more exorcisms are pronounced over the candidate. That's just emphasizing that in baptism you have the simple or idea, the simple form of an exorcism. A lot of people don't see that, but that's an exorcism. If you go to a Catholic baptism, that's an exorcism. Just make sure you understand that. So that's a paragraph sixteen seventy three. The

56:16 second paragraph that would typically be given as paragraph twelve thirty seven, which we just read a third. So actually, so we looked at the main paragraph sixteen seventy three, we looked at three cross references three ninety five, three fifty, and twelve thirty seven. Typically, if you have a list of these paragraphs, sixteen seventy three comes first, twelve thirty seven comes second. But since we're looking at the cross references, we've already looked at that. So let's go to twenty eight fifty one, twenty eight fifty one and the Catholic Catechism twenty eight point fifty one. We read this twenty eight fifty one, and this petition evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a person Satan, the evil one, the angel who opposes God. The devil is the one who throws himself across God's plan and his work of salvation accomplished in Christ. So paragraph twenty eight point fifty one, this is from speaking of the Lord's prayer and deliverance and discussing the petition deliver us from Evil in the Lord's Prayer. The Catechism reflects on the Church's prayer for protection from Satan and all his works, acknowledging the reality of evil and the Church's dependence on God's power for deliverance.

57:39 So let me read that again. This is about the Lord's prayer and the petition deliver us from evil. So in this petition deliver us from evil, evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a person Satan, the evil one, the angel who opposes God. The devil is the one who throws himself across God's plan and his work of salvation accomplished in Christ. So to deliver us from evil is the idea of deliver us from the evil from Satan. All right, The next paragraph is paragraph three ninety one, paragraph three ninety one, paragraph three ninety one. Right now, this is a long section. We have paragraph three ninety one to three ninety five, paragraph three ninety one to three ninety five. All right, now, what I think I'm going to do? Yeah, I'll stop right here because we're in an hour. If I go to three ninety one to three ninety five and start trying to break this down, and if we start reading any cross references, well this is going to go even Yeah, this will go two hours long. So we'll stop right there. So what have we looked at? What have we looked at today in this last hour. Well, it's everything started with late last night broadcast where I told you about the podcast, The

59:09 Exorcist Files, which is moving up the podcasting charts. I told everyone to go check it out. I listened to episode one, part one, and episode two, which was part two, and wow, crazy. So I'm like, okay. I told everyone to be cautious of it, to be to be skeptical, to look at it carefully, and just to be warned of the language and things about it. So I told everyone about all of that. We did that. I played the trailer, I listened to it. I mean, I mean, you've got to hear part one and part two. It's just it's crazy, right, go listen to it all right, But I wanted to provide broader context, right, I wanted to provide broader context. So what have we done? I wanted to look at the Catholic Church's teaching on exorcism, and I wanted to quote from their official text. Right, So what have we done? We looked at the definition and purpose of exorcism and the main text for that is the Catholic Catechism, paragraph sixteen seventy three. Look it up, write it down know it. That gives you kind of an idea of what the Catholic Church it's definition and purpose of exorcism. We looked at the types of exorcism, simple, solemn, and again which paragraph sixteen seventy three in the Catholic Catechism.

1:00:24 We looked at the role of faith and sacraments and the role of prayer and all of these things. Again, what's the paragraph sixteen seventy three and the Catholic Catechism. We looked at number four, the signs of demonic influence. Criteria for possession of the Church has guidelines to determine if an individuals possessed. The book that we looked at there is Ritual Romanem Ritual Romanem, which you can find online, and that's the book that we kind of lay out some of those signs of demonic influence. We looked at the procedures and precautions. You need authorization, you need to earn it, you need to be careful that you're not diagnosing someone as being possessed when it's simply a psychological issue.

1:01:06 And again the book is Ritual Romanem is the official document I pointed you to. We looked at the power of Christ in exorcism, and we looked at sixteen seventy three again in the Catholic Catechism. We looked at the role of community and the intercession of the saints. We looked at Ritual Romanem as speaking of that because it has the litanies and prayers that call upon the saints to assist. Number eight. We looked at limitations and respect for freedom, and we referenced Instruction on Exorcism and Prayer for healing. We talked about the key text the Catechism, Ritual Romanem, and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Exorcism and Prayers for healing. We covered all of that in an hour. Then we started looking at some of the key paragraphs. If you want some of the key paragraphs in the Catechism, sixteen seventy three, twelve thirty seven, twenty eight fifty one, paragraphs three ninety one to three ninety five. This is the Fall of the Angels.

1:02:12 These paragraphs provide foundational teaching on the nature of demons. All right, this is the Catholic Church's teaching on this paragraph five point fifty, which we did read. Paragraph sixteen seventy four, paragraph twenty eight sixty four. Those are all the key paragraphs. Let me go through those again, paragraph sixteen seventy three, paragraph twelve thirty seven, paragraph twenty eight fifty one, paragraphs three ninety one to three ninety five, paragraph five point fifty, paragraph sixteen seventy four, and paragraph twenty eight sixty four. That will give you all the key paragraphs. The en the Catholic Catechism, but Rituel Romanam is really the book to go to. But you want the Catholic Catechism sets up the foundation. This is the Catholic understanding. Now you can look at it and say disagree, disagree, disagree, disagree, or you can go, well, this is interesting or this is interesting and how do how does that apply to how we view things? How do you view things? Just note with outside of the Catholic Church, within the non Catholic world, there's almost no agreement within the non Catholic world when it comes to demonic possession and this and that, I mean, how to do it, what it involves, does it have I mean, there's just so much disagreement in all of it. So just note that, you know, if

1:03:43 you disagree with the Catholic Church you probably also disagree with other fellow Christians because there's no necessarily agreement on it. There you go. There, there's the philological background. Now you can go look up the podcast The Exorcist Files on any podcasting app and I go go. You have to go all the way down to the bottom to episode one right part one, and remember the episode is entitled No Life Without Death Part one, and then you'll look for No Life Without Death Part two. Remember there's language, and it deals with obviously adult situations because I don't know if you realize this or not, it's dealing with demonic but it's dealing with very with demonic possessions, dealing with very adult subjects. Okay, I just set down the Catholic Catechism. You hear that thump? Yeah, I know that was very academic, but I hope you found that to be somewhat interesting. And now if you hear people talking about Catholic exorcisms, you can kind of say, time out.

1:05:03 I don't think you're representing that fairly. I think you may be misrepresenting it greatly. And I think we're clearly prohibited in scripture from bearing false witness, and we need to put away lie and speak the truth. Don't have to agree with it, but we need to speak of it accurately, no matter what theological system we are referring to. Now we may talk more about this, but I felt that last night was kind of just like an informative one. This one I wanted to provide greater context. I guess this one is just an informative one as well, but it's a little bit more teaching. More just trying to say, here are the documents, and here are what they say. Is simply trying to take all of these paragraphs and all of this information from all of these documents and trying to break it down in some kind of organize, outlined way so that you can retain it and remember it.

1:05:54 So hopefully you found it beneficial. Now, if you have any questions, you can always let me know. Enjoy think carefully about all of this, and uh, we'll just see if this leads to more discussion. All right, Thank you everyone, have a great day. God bless