Catholic Exorcism in America

The Atlantic has a thoughtful article on Catholic exorcism. There are several interesting facts reported in the article.  One is that rates if belief in demonic possession are still high in the United States;  about half of Americans believe demonic possession is real.  Another is that there is demand for exorcist services;  the official exorcists for Indianapolis has received 1700 requests in the year 2018, more than he has received in any earlier year.  Another is that that are many more known Catholic exorcists in the United States now than several years ago, and new exorcists are being trained.  But what the article does best is provide an in-depth perspective of a particular person who received an exorcism.  The focus is on Catholic exorcism, but exorcisms occur in other denominations in the United States.  The Episcopal Church, for example, still maintains the practice.

There are several other interesting elements.  A key issue in exorcism is identifying whether a person's condition is demonic possession or some other ailment, such as schizophrenia.  Exorcists have procedures they follow to determine if the case involves demonic possession, and then an exorcism is only performed if the evidence warrants it.  Another key issue is efficacy.  Sometimes the exorcism takes place over several sessions with an exorcist, and knowing whether the exorcism has been successful can be difficult to discern during the process.

Many members of the Catholic church, including many priests, do not believe in possession or in the efficacy of exorcism.  Perhaps this is a reason why there are actually very few exorcists relative to the size of the American Catholic population.  I wish the author would have spent more time exploring this idea.

Read to find out the author's best explanation for the rising demand for Catholic exorcisms.  The explanations relate to our understanding of the processes of secularization and forces that might work against secularization.

If you are interested, you can read more about Catholic exorcism at the web site for the International Catholic Association of Exorcists.  There are also several books that you can find on amazon.