(English text after the Italian)

When the devil puts his tail, BETWEEN EXORCISMS AND NARCISSISMS…

Major exorcism is the therapy of choice to fight the Evil One? It's still: the action of the Evil One is always and only the extraordinary one or the ordinary action is not much more subtle and insidious? To answer these questions we make some further clarifications …

— Pastoral current events —

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Cap.

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PDF print format article

PDF article print format

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Perhaps a clarification is due, because as expected, my article from 7 last February (see WHO) caused some readers to turn up their noses, so much so that they came to interpret my writing as an attack (personal?) to all those beautiful souls who daily fight against the Devil.

In short, all we were missing was the killjoy Capuchin friar to hinder the army of those warriors of light who with Captain Jesus - who is not up there but down here with the flag in his hand - catch the devils red-handed as the good Angelo Branduardi sang (you see WHO).

I consider my writing extremely clear so much so that it acts as a corollary to the beautiful note from the International Association of Exorcists (you see WHO) who certainly cannot be blamed for being a group of partisans and exalted troublemakers. And of demonology and the related sacramental of exorcism, two Fathers of this island of Patmos of ours perhaps know something about it. Both myself and Father Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo we both underwent training for this delicate ministry, in the usual year 2009 and at the same academic-ecclesiastical institution. Certain alarms must also be given, we must warn the Christian faithful against certain deviations as the prophets in ancient Israel used to do with the stiff-necked people: «Whether they listen or not – because they are a bunch of rebels – they will at least know that a prophet is among them» (cf. This 2,2-5). Some things just have to be said.

I believe that the priest today must rediscover his role as prophet, of the one who speaks in the name of God, something that is increasingly rare in an ecclesial community where clerical-religious personalism has become hypertrophic. Being a prophet involves inevitable hardships, of misunderstandings, an inconvenience that is difficult to accept but necessary, until proclaiming – from the rooftops (cf. LC 12,3) – even what most people don't want to hear. And all this without veils of rash judgments but with that prophetic parrhesia that we find within the folds of the pastoral responsibility that we owe to the people of God entrusted to us with sacred ordination.

Having said this, I would like to return further to some well-known issues, so well known, which are routinely ignored, disregarded and needlessly cunningly manipulated.

1. What is an exorcism?

It is the invocation of the name of God made in order to ward off the devil from a person, from an animal, from a place or thing. When it is done in the name of the Church, by a legitimately appointed minister and according to the rites foreseen in the approved liturgical books, exorcism is called public and has the value of sacramentals. If not, this is a private practice. Public exorcisms are divided into simple and solemn or major. In this article I will not stop to analyze the simple exorcisms that were part of some blessing rites included in chapter IX of the old Roman ritual or those inherent to specific paths and stages of the catechumenate journey and the baptism of children and especially adults.

Clarified this, the public exorcisms foreseen for cases of obsession or diabolical possession are called solemn or major, or in cases where the devil, operating from the outside, permanently prevents the individual's actions or in cases where Satan works through the individual's organism by acting from within the body of the possessed person, exercising more or less full dominion.

The prayer of exorcism more sought after by certain demonopathic believers, needless to say, the solemn exorcism. The need is so strong that even some alleged prayers for liberation have the structure of real solemn exorcisms, complete with an accusative and imperative formula. As I have said many times, We are looking for the strongest exorcist or the most talented charismatic person who has the most effective command formula against the devil to definitively solve all problems. We have to smile bitterly because in everyday jargon we often hear about the skill or otherwise of an exorcist or a charismatic person.. This lexical distinction has no reason to exist from a theological-spiritual point of view, it's not about using the skill typical of a cleric fantasy di D&D but everything starts from the authority of Christ who acts in the person of the exorcist and who God the Father welcomes and grants in view of the ultimate good of the soul.

At this point in the discussion a question is de rigueur: major exorcism is the therapy of choice to fight the Evil One? It's still: the action of the Evil One is always and only the extraordinary one or the ordinary action is not much more subtle and insidious? To answer these questions we make some further clarifications, already mentioned in my previous article of 7 February.

2. Baptism and Confession to fight the Devil

We should first of all remember that the first form of fight against the Devil is baptismal life, that new life in the Spirit which is nourished by a radical change of mentality or Metanoia (dal greco repent – of methane), from which the Italian term conversion derives. The Metanoia it marks a passage from the mentality subject to sin and concupiscence - of which Satan is the prince and creator; origin and cause (cf. GV 12,31; Ef 2,2; 2Color 4,4; 1GV 5,19) – to that of the Holy Spirit in which the risen Lord reigns (cf. With the 1,13; RM 6,14; 8,2). This change of register - of mind and heart - is already in itself a powerful path of liberation as Christ has freed us so that we remain free (cf. Gal 5,1). In the catechumenate path, this joyful freedom that Christ has gained for us is contrasted with the slavery of sin that the devil never stops arousing in man with his plots in contempt of God (cf. Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults n. 78; 113; 156; 164; 171; 178; 255; 339; 372; 377; 379; 381 these are the different prayers that we define as simple exorcisms. Their analysis from both a liturgical and sacramental point of view would be useful to highlight the tension towards metanoia and the new life that the catechumen obtains with immersion in Christ's Easter).

Always remaining on the baptismal theme, how can we fail to include the Our Father prayer which was solemnly given to us in baptism and which asks God for liberation from the evil one. The Our Father is the prayer of children but it also constitutes the first simple supplicatory formula for liberation from the power of the evil one. The prayer of the Our Father is liturgically placed as the final culmination of the rite of Baptism (cf. Rite of Baptism of children n. 76 and Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults nos. 188-189), and this is to express the tension towards a daily conversion in which every day the baptized believer asks God to be freed from the evil one in order to be able to participate as worthily as possible in that sonship of a son in the Son.

Another necessary clarification. The fight against the Devil takes place with good sacramental practice in which confession constitutes the most effective and eloquent weapon of choice than any other exorcism prayer. Recognizing and renouncing the works of the devil in my personal life becomes essential to ward off Satan. If I can do this, I recognize the vital action of the Holy Spirit who acts and convinces me about sin, righteousness and judgment (cf. GV 16,8-9). In the majority of cases, a good priest confessor is enough to resolve what could take much longer due to negligence, with the not remote risk of opening the door to the extraordinary action of the devil, according to what the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church already provides: «sin leads to sin; With the repetition of the same documents it generates the vice. The result is perverse inclinations that darken the conscience and alter the concrete evaluation of good and evil." (cf. n. 1865 and on the reality of sin cf. in nn. 1846-1876).

Frequently reiterate this teaching of the Church It absolutely doesn't mean throwing the baby out with the bathwater, demonizing exorcism. On the contrary, in doing so we intend to give a right place to a sacramental, contextualising it within a journey of mature and realistic faith that we are all called to follow, even with difficulty. Giving up Satan has never been an easy and immediate task.

3. The exorcist is not one Guest star

Another major clarification on exorcism concerns the one who is its minister par excellence. The canon 1172 of the Code of Canon Law declares that no one can legitimately perform exorcisms on the possessed if he has not obtained a special and express license from the local Ordinary (§ 1). This license must be granted by the local Ordinary only to a priest distinguished for piety, science, prudence and integrity of life (§ 2). The same things are reiterated by the "Letter to the Ordinaries concerning the norms on exorcisms" of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of 29 September 1985 (you see WHO) and from the ritual of the "Rite of Exorcisms and Prayers for particular circumstances", effective from 31 March 2002.

Therefore based on what has been established by the Church it is necessary for a person to perform solemn exorcisms in a legitimate way:

a) that it is only and exclusively a presbyter.

b) that such designated presbyter is licensed, conferred in a personal and direct way and expressed by the local Ordinary. The conferral of this faculty must therefore appear clearly from the bishop's decree. The license cannot be considered tacit or presumed. It can only be implied if connected to the office of exorcist.

(c)) in particular cases, for the exercise of the ministry of exorcism outside one's own diocese, the decision and judgment of the local Ordinary is necessary, who must be promptly informed by carrying out due discernment.

The ministerial action of the exorcist priest is meek and humble, he is the minus-ter is the smallest compared to Him who is Lord and Savior. No priest can undertake the fight against the demonic spirit alone, no layman or supposedly charismatic or psychic can have his own authority over demons. This authority was given by Christ to the apostles (cf. LC 9,1) and to the disciples who believe in him (cf. MC 16,17; LC 10,19) and who were established and sent by the Church as ministers of liberation and consolation.

4. Meetings and weekends of liberation and healing, all it takes is a little transparency

I have already explained in my previous article the danger posed by these parallel gatherings in the life of the Church, which look a lot like seditious gatherings. Gatherings managed by lay people without any authorization and competence which constitute a disorder for the faith journey of the faithful. What perhaps many still don't know is that stringent regulations have been issued in various dioceses of Italy regarding this type of demonstration and the like.. An example of this is the Sicilian Episcopal Conference (you see WHO), the Piedmontese Episcopal Conference (you see WHO); a note to this effect from the bishop of Trieste: «I saw Satan fall from heaven…» (you see WHO); and the excellent with a bailout of the diocese of Brescia which also includes various norms relating to the ministry of the exorcist (you see WHO).

I reiterate that prayer meetings and Christian formation must be carried out in ecclesial environments, except for those national convocations which involve thousands of people and which must guarantee very precise security and manageability criteria which are not always possible to have in official ecclesial contexts. It would be good practice, not of etiquette but of obedience to the Church, inform the diocesan bishop of these meetings. Inform the local Ordinary in good time with an official letter about the type of meeting, on the topic discussed, on the speakers who will speak and on the activities carried out at the same time. And only when approval has been received from him, together with his fatherly blessing we can proceed. Putting the bishops in front of a fait accompli, it is very reminiscent of the modus operandi of the fuitina of the past years with which rebellious parents were forced to agree to the marriage of their children. Personally I believe that everything must be documented to be transparent in view of the good that we want to bring to souls, knowing that the devil tends to hide and hide as much as possible. It would be appropriate to read the bishop's letter of approval in these assemblies to participate more fully in that ecclesial communion which has its center in the diocesan bishop. Unfortunately, the reality of the facts is of a very different kind and the bishops find themselves warning the clergy and the people of God against these meetings, enjoying the same success as the shouts against the bravos of Manzoni's memory. But there is more if the organizer of such meetings is from another diocese, it is enough to investigate a little to discover that these characters - both clerics and lay people - have been considered unmanageable since time immemorial and difficult to recover except with canonical sanctions and recourse to the competent departments.

5. Publishing about the devil: ecclesiastical approval still exists?

If we look around the most common Catholic bookstores, we often have to resign ourselves to not finding the requirement of catholicity, sometimes not even that of Christianity. But this would open a chapter that is better closed immediately. When dealing with the devil and exorcisms, it is now well established that this topic has found its perpetual youth in publishing, in other words we say that there is a good market. While we congratulate those who manage to live with these publications - you have to eat - I cannot help but offer constructive criticism. Dealing with specifically theological themes, the authors of these works of demonology, of pastoral care of exorcisms or prayers of liberation, they should obtain a permit from the competent ecclesiastical authority. What does this mean? What we are talking about is certainly not the permission to publish or not a book but the guarantee that what is published does not conflict with the faith, the moral, the magisterium and discipline of the Church. It means having the tranquility of mind to operate in continuity of intent with what the Church believes and lives regarding its teaching. Even in this area, editorial works on demonological topics approved by the competent ecclesiastical authority are very rare, Indeed, it is often enough to consider the single publishing house with which certain volumes are published to already have a more than satisfactory overview of the distance from any form of Catholicism and Christianity as well as a certain assonance with Christianized esotericism..

In conclusion I hope that this further article of mine be considered for what it really is, a heartfelt reflection on a very complex and delicate phenomenon such as exorcism and demonology. There is still so much to say and it is not excluded that he could return to the topic. For the moment, no one should feel attacked or compromised in their work but rather encouraged to live more and more in the light of the truth that makes everything clear., awaiting that definitive triumph of Christ over the devil at the end of time.

Sanluri, 11 February 2025

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WHEN THE DEVIL PUTS HIS TAIL ON US, BETWEEN EXORCISMS AND NARCISSISMS…

Is major exorcism the therapy of choice to fight the Evil One? Is the action of the Evil One always and only the extraordinary one or isn’t the ordinary action much more subtle and insidious? To answer these questions let’s make some further clarifications…

— Pastoral actuality —

Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Cap.

.

Perhaps a clarification is due, because as expected, my article of February 7th (see HERE) has raised doubts in some readers, so much so that they have come to interpret my writing as an attack on those beautiful souls who fight against the Devil on a daily basis.

All we needed was the Capuchin friar to hinder the army of those warriors of light who with Captain Jesus – who is not up there but down here with the flag in his hand – catch the devils red-handed as the Italian sing Angelo Branduardi sang (see HERE).

My writing extremely clear, and conform y to the optimal note from the International Association of Exorcists (see HERE) which certainly cannot be blamed for being a group of exalted partisans. Two Fathers of this island of Patmos know something about demonology and the related sacramental of exorcism. Father Ariel S. Levi of Gualdo and I both underwent training for this delicate ministry in the year 2009 at the same academic-ecclesiastical institution. Certain alarms must also be given, the Christian faithful must be warned against certain deviations as the prophets in ancient Israel: “Whether they listen or not – because they are a rebellious race – they will at least know that a prophet is among them” (cf. Ezekiel 2,2-5). Some things just have to be said.

I believe that the priest today must rediscover his role as a prophet who speaks in the name of God, which is increasingly rare in an ecclesial community where clerical-religious personalism has become hypertrophic. The prophetic mission involves inevitable hardships, misunderstandings, an inconvenience that is difficult to accept but necessary, to the point of proclaiming from the rooftops (cf. Luke 12, 3) even what most people would not like to hear. And all this without veils of rash judgments but with that prophetic parrhesia contained in the pastoral responsibilities that we must exercise towards the people that God has entrusted to us through sacred priestly ordination.

Having said this, I would like to return further to some issues that are so well known that they are regularly ignored or cunningly manipulated.

1. What is an exorcism?

It is the invocation of the name of God made to ward off the Devil from a person, an animal, a place or a thing. When it is carried out in the name of the Church, by an authorized minister according to the rites provided for in the approved liturgical books, the exorcism is called public and has the value of sacramentals. Otherwise is a private practice. Public exorcisms are divided into simple and solemn or major. I will not stop to analyze the simple exorcisms that were part of some blessing rites contained in chapter IX of the old Rituale Romanum or those inherent to specific paths and stages of the catechumenate journey and the baptism of children and especially of adults.

The public exorcisms foreseen for cases of obsession or diabolical possession are called solemn or major, or in cases in which the Devil, operating from the outside, permanently prevents the individual’s actions or in cases in which Satan operates through the individual’s organism, acting from within the body of the possessed person, exercising more or less full dominion.

The exorcism prayer most sought after by demonopathic issolemn exorcism. The need is so strong that even some alleged prayers of liberation have the structure of solemn exorcisms with an invocativ and imperative formula. Thas I have often had the opportunity to say, we are looking for the “strongest” exorcist or the charismatic person who possesses the most effective command formula against the Devil to definitively resolve all problems. We have to smile bitterly because in everyday jargon we often hear people talk about the skill or otherwise of an exorcist or a charismatic person. This distinction has no reason to exist from a theological-spiritual point of view, it is not a question of using the skills of a D&D fantasy cleric but everything starts from the authority of Christ who acts in the person of the exorcist and who God the Father welcomes and grants in view of the ultimate good of the soul.

At this point a question is necessary: is major exorcism the therapy of choice to fight the Evil One? Is the action of the Evil One always and only the extraordinary one or isn’t the ordinary action much more subtle and insidious? To answer these questions we make some further clarifications, already mentioned in my previous article of February 7th.

2. Baptism and Confession to fight the Devil

It should be remembered that the first form of fight against the Devil is baptismal life, that new life in the Spirit which is nourished by a radical change of mentality or metanoia (from the Greek μετανοεῖν – of methane), from which the term “conversion” derives. The Metanoia marks a transition from a mentality subject to sin and concupiscence – of which Satan is the prince and creator; origin and cause (cf. Jn 12.31; Eph 2.2; 2Color 4.4; 1Jn 5.19) – to that of the Holy Spirit in whom the risen Lord reigns (cf. With the 1.13; RM 6.14; 8.2). This change of register – of mind and heart – is already in itself a powerful path of liberation as Christ has freed us so that we remain free (cf. Gal 5.1). In the catechumenate path, this joyful freedom in Christ contrast with the slavery of sin that the Devil never ceases to arouse in man with his plots in contempt of God (cf. Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults nos. 78; 113; 156; 164; 171; 178; 255; 339; 372; 377; 379; 381 these are the different prayers that we define as simple exorcisms. Their analysis from both a liturgical and sacramental point of view would be useful to highlight the tension towards boredom and new life that the catechumen obtains with immersion in Christ’s Easter).

Still remaining on the baptismal theme, how can we not include the prayer of the “Our Father” which was solemnly given to us in baptism and which asks God for liberation from the Evil one. It is the prayer of the sons which also constitutes the first simple dedicatory formula for liberation from the power of theEvil one. The prayer of the Our Father is liturgically placed as the final culmination of the rite of Baptism (cf. Rite of the Baptism of children n. 76 and Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults n. 188-189), and this to express the tension towards a daily conversion in which every day the baptized believer asks God to be freed from the Evil One in order to be able to participate as worthily as possible in that sonship in the Divin Son.

Another necessary clarification. The fight against the Devil takes place with good sacramental practice in which confession constitutes the most effective and eloquent weapon of choice than any other exorcism prayer. Recognizing and renouncing the works of the Devil in my personal life becomes fundamental to ward off Satan. If I manage to do this, I recognize the vital action of the Holy Spirit who acts and convinces me regarding sin, justice and judgment (cf. Jh 16.8-9). In the majority of cases, a good priest confessor is enough to resolve what could take much longer due to negligence, with the not remote risk of opening the door to the extraordinary action of the Devil, according to what the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church already foresees: «sin leads to sin; with the repetition of the same acts it generates vice. The result is perverse inclinations that darken the conscience and alter the concrete evaluation of good and evil” (cf. n. 1865 and on the reality of sin cf. n. 1846-1876).

Frequently reiterating this teaching of the Church absolutely does not mean debasing exorcism. On the contrary, we intend to give a right place to a sacramental, contextualising it within a journey of mature and realistic faith that we are all called to undertake, even with difficulty. Giving up Satan has never been an easy and immediate task.

3. The Exorcist is not a Guest Star

Another major clarification on exorcism concerns the one who is its minister par excellence. Canon 1172 of the Code of Canon Law declares that no one can legitimately perform exorcisms on the possessed if he has not obtained a special and express license from the local Ordinary (§ 1). This license must be granted by the local Ordinary only to a priest distinguished for piety, knowledge, prudence and integrity of life (§ 2). The same things are reiterated by the “Letter to the Ordinaries regarding the rules on exorcisms” of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of 29 September 1985 (see HERE) and by the ritual of the Rite of Exorcisms and Prayers for particular circumstances, in force since 31 March 2002.

Therefore, according to what has been established by the Church, for a person to be able to perform solemn exorcisms in a legitimate way it is necessary:

a) only and exclusively a presbyter.

b) that this designated presbyter has the license conferred by the local Ordinary. The conferral of this faculty must therefore appear clearly from the bishop’s decree. The license cannot be considered tacit or presumed. It can only be implied if connected to the office of exorcist.

(c)) in particular cases, for the exercise of the ministry of exorcism outside one’s own diocese, the decision and judgment of the local Ordinary is necessary, who must be promptly informed by carrying out due discernment.

The ministerial action of the exorcist priest is meek and humble, he is the smallest compared to He who is Lord and Savior. No priest can undertake the fight against the demonic spirit alone, no layman or supposedly charismatic or sensitive person can have his own authority over demons. This authority was conferred by Christ on the Apostles (cf. Luke 9.1) and on the disciples who believe in him (cf. Mk 16.17; Page 10.19) and who were established and sent by the Church as ministers of liberation and consolation.

4. Meetings and weekends of liberation and healing, all it takes is a little transparency

I have already explained in my previous article the danger posed by these parallel gatherings in the life of the Church, which look so much like seditious gatherings. Gatherings managed by lay people without any authorization and competence which constitute a disorder for the faith journey of the faithful. What perhaps many still don’t know is that stringent regulations regarding this type of demonstration have been issued in various dioceses of our nation. An example of this is the Sicilian Episcopal Conference (see HERE), the Piedmont Episcopal Conference (see HERE); a note to this effect from the bishop of Trieste: «I saw Satan fall from heaven…» (see HERE); and the excellent handbook of the diocese of Brescia which also includes various regulations on the ministry of the exorcist (see HERE).

5. Publishing about the devil: does ecclesiastical approval still exist?

In Catholic bookstores we often no longer the Catholicity, sometimes not even Christianity. But this would open a chapter that is better closed immediately. When dealing with the Devil and exorcisms this topic in publishing has been able to find its perpetual youth, in other words let’s say that there is a good market. While we congratulate those who manage to survivewith these publications – you have to eat – I cannot help but offer constructive criticism. Dealing with specifically theological themes, the authors of these works of demonology, pastoral care of exorcisms or liberation prayers should obtain authorization from the competent ecclesiastical authority. What does this mean? What we are talking about is certainly not the permission to publish or not a book but the guarantee that what is published does not conflict with the faith, morality, magisterium and discipline of the Church. It means having the tranquility of mind to operate in continuity of intent with what the Church believes and lives regarding its teaching. Even in this area, editorial works on a demonological theme approved by the competent ecclesiastical authority are very rare; indeed, it is often enough to consider the single publishing house with which certain volumes are published to already have a more than satisfactory overview of the distance from any form of Catholicity and Christianity, but rather a certain assonance with Christianized esotericism.

In conclusion, I hope that this second article of mine is considered for what it really is: a serious reflection on a complex and delicate phenomenon such as exorcism and demonology. There is much more to say and it is not excluded that he could return to the topic. For the moment, no one should feel attacked in their work but encouraged to live more and more in the light of the truth that makes everything clear, awaiting that definitive triumph of Christ over the Devil at the end of time.

Sanluri, 11 February 2025

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The books of Ivano Liguori, to access the book shop click on the cover

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