Vatican Needs Exoricists Training

Citing a shortage of priests who can perform the rite, the
nation's Roman Catholic bishops are holding a conference on how to conduct
exorcisms.

The two-day training, which ends Saturday in Baltimore, is to outline the
scriptural basis of evil, instruct clergy on evaluating whether a person is
truly possessed, and review the prayers and rituals that comprise an exorcism.
Among the speakers will be Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of
Galveston-Houston, Texas, and a priest-assistant to New York Archbishop Timothy
Dolan.

"Learning the liturgical rite is not difficult," DiNardo said in a phone
interview before the conference, which is open to clergy only. "The problem is
the discernment that the exorcist needs before he would ever attempt the rite."

More than 50 bishops and 60 priests signed up to attend, according to Catholic
News Service, which first reported the event. The conference was scheduled for
just ahead of the fall meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which
starts Monday in Baltimore.

Despite strong interest in the training, skepticism about the rite persists
within the American church. Organizers of the event are keenly aware of the
ridicule that can accompany discussion of the subject. Exorcists in U.S.
dioceses keep a very low profile. In 1999, the church updated the Rite of
Exorcism, cautioning that "all must be done to avoid the perception that
exorcism is magic or superstition."

The practice is much more accepted by Catholics in parts of Europe and elsewhere
overseas. Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the longtime private secretary of Pope
John Paul II, revealed a few years after the pontiff's death that John Paul had
performed an exorcism on a woman who was brought into the Vatican writhing and
screaming in what Dziwisz said was a case of possession by the devil.

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., who organized the conference, said
only a tiny number of U.S. priests have enough training and knowledge to perform
an exorcism. Dioceses nationwide have been relying solely on these clergy, who
have been overwhelmed with requests to evaluate claims. The Rev. James LeBar,
who was the official exorcist of the Archdiocese of New York under the late
Cardinal John O'Connor, had faced a similar level of demand, traveling the
country in response to the many requests for his expertise.

The rite is performed only rarely. Neal Lozano, a Catholic writer and author of
the book "Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance" about combatting evil
spirits, said he knows an exorcist in the church who receives about 400
inquiries a year, but determines that out of that number, two or three of the
cases require an exorcism.

No one knows why more people seem to be seeking the rite. Paprocki said one
reason could be the growing interest among Americans in exploring general
spirituality, as opposed to participating in organized religion, which has led
more people to dabble in the occult.

"They don't know exactly what they're getting into and when they have questions,
they're turning to the church, to priests," said Paprocki, chairman of the
bishops' committee on canonical affairs and church governance. "They wonder if
some untoward activity is taking place in their life and want some help
discerning that."

Many Catholic immigrants in the U.S. come from countries where exorcism is more
common, although Paprocki said that was not a motivation for organizing the
conference.

Exorcism has deep roots in Christianity. The New Testament contains several
examples of Jesus casting out evil spirits from people, and the church notes
these acts in the Catholic Catechism. Whether or not individual Catholics
realize it, each of them undergoes what the church calls a minor exorcism at
baptism that includes prayers renouncing Satan and seeking freedom from original
sin.

A major exorcism can only be performed by a priest with the permission of his
bishop after a thorough evaluation, including consulting with physicians or
psychiatrists to rule out any psychological or physical illness behind the
person's behavior.

Signs of demonic possession accepted by the church include violent reaction to
holy water or anything holy, speaking in a language the possessed person doesn't
know and abnormal displays of strength.

The full exorcism is held in private and includes sprinkling holy water,
reciting Psalms, reading aloud from the Gospel, laying on of hands and reciting
the Lord's Prayer. Some adaptations are allowed for different circumstances. The
exorcist can invoke the Holy Spirit then blow in the face of the possessed
person, trace the sign of the cross on the person's forehead and command the
devil to leave.

The training comes at a time when many American bishops and priests are trying
to correct what they view as a lack of emphasis on the Catholic teaching about
sin and evil after the Second Vatican Council, the series of meetings in the
1960s that enacted modernizing reforms in the church. Many in the American
hierarchy, as well as Pope Benedict XVI, believe that the supernatural aspect of
the church was lost in the changes, reducing it to just another institution in
the world.

A renewed focus on exorcism highlights the divine element of the church and
underscores the belief that evil is real.

DiNardo said some Catholics who ask for an exorcism are really seeking,
"prayerful support. They're asking for formation in the faith." Still, he said
sometimes the rite is warranted.

"For the longest time, we in the United States may not have been as much attuned
to some of the spiritual aspects of evil because we have become so much attached
to what would be either physical or psychological explanation for certain
phenomena," DiNardo said. "We may have forgotten that there is a spiritual
dimension to people." See Chick's THE THING.