A top Catholic exorcist has lifted the lid on the secret ritual by revealing that while an exorcism can involve holy relics, Bible readings, and the crucifix just like in the movies, 95 per cent of complaints of possession are resolved in a totally ordinary way with counselling and psychiatry.
The Diocese of Caxias do Sul, in Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil, has seen such an increase in demand for the services of an exorcist priest that they appointed Father Daniel D’Agnoluzzo Zatti to lead its Ministry of Exorcism last month.
It makes him the first priest in the Serra Gaucha region to officially take on the role, and although church-appointed exorcists are forbidden from publicising their rituals or discussing individual cases, he revealed that most enquiries are actually resolved by professional mental health support and counselling rather than supernatural intervention.
The 38-year-old priest, who is also a parish priest of Sao Ciro Church in Caxias do Sul, has already faced a waiting list of around a month for people seeking help.
Daniel said the ministry was created because of the growing number of people approaching the Catholic Church for explanations for difficult experiences they were facing.
He said: "What generates the need to have a priest appointed to this ministry is the volume of requests."
Daniel said television and the internet could also encourage people to see supernatural explanations as an easy answer to problems they were experiencing.
He said: "Sometimes they hear noises inside the house and already believe the explanation is supernatural."
The priest said many of the cases involved different psychological conditions or severe depression rather than what the Church would regard as supernatural activity.
To prevent people from being subjected to an exorcism unnecessarily, Daniel established a team including psychiatrists, psychologists and other medical professionals to assess cases from the beginning.
He said: "It’s not like in the movies. The ritual only happens after a thorough process of discernment involving mental health and medical professionals."
Only between five and 10 per cent of those who approach the ministry ultimately reach the stage where an exorcism is considered, according to Daniel.
For those rare cases, the priest follows the official Catholic rite of exorcism published by the Vatican in 1998, which updated a protocol dating back to 1614.
Daniel said the ritual can include holy water, blessed salt, a cross, a purple stole worn over a white tunic and other objects connected with Catholic worship.
He said: "We also have some liturgical elements that accompany this ritual, just as we have so many in Mass: holy water, blessed salt, the cross."
A chapel or other location can also contain saints’ relics and images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary.
Daniel explained: "Now, there can be a relic of a saint in the environment, or it can be a chapel where there are already images of Jesus Christ and Mary."
The ceremony itself is largely made up of prayers and lasts around 30 to 40 minutes.
It can include a reading from the Gospel, the renewal of baptismal promises, prayers and a plea to God for the person to be freed from evil.
One of the prayers used is the Litany of the Saints, with the priest leading the words while others present repeat them.
Daniel said the ritual is conducted calmly rather than resembling the dramatic scenes often associated with exorcisms in films.
He said: "Everything that we have in our Hollywood imagination needs to be broken, because it is a very lucid and serene ritual."
According to the priest, the ritual may be repeated at intervals, such as every two weeks over a period of time, when continued treatment is considered necessary.
The official criteria used by the Church to diagnose a supernatural influence include the person speaking languages they do not know, providing information they apparently could not know, displaying physical strength considered incompatible with their condition and showing an aversion to sacred symbols.
Daniel stressed that none of these signs automatically proves a supernatural cause.
He said: "Discernment is not simple. There is no mathematical formula that gives us an objective answer. It also starts with a global reading of the person’s life."
The Church also distinguishes between possession and other forms of what it describes as extraordinary demonic activity, including oppression, vexation and infestation involving places, objects or animals.
Daniel said the ministry’s purpose was ultimately to help those who came through its doors.
He said: "The Ministry of Exorcism is above all characterised as a ministry of charity and mercy.
"The person never leaves worse; they always leave better from the exorcism."
Daniel has said he does not regard his new role as frightening and is due to travel to Rome next year for additional training in the exorcism rite.
(Marija Stojkoska/Newsflash)
