Major Exorcism
| Minister | Priest |
|---|---|
| Permission | Particular and express permission of the local ordinary |
| Governing book | The approved Roman Ritual |
Major Exorcism is the Church's solemn sacramental rite for the expulsion of demons or liberation from demonic possession, celebrated only by an authorized priest according to the approved ritual.[1]
Authority of Christ entrusted to the Church
Jesus truly cast out demons, and the Church received from him the authority and office of exorcizing. In a major exorcism she publicly and authoritatively asks in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected from the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion. The rite is a sacramental, not an eighth sacrament and not a private magical contest between personalities.[2]
The power belongs to Christ. The priest acts as a minister of the Church, uses Scripture and the approved prayers, and depends on the bishop's governance. Personal charisma, media reputation, or membership in a prayer group does not supply the canonical mission.
Minister and permission
Canon 1172 permits no one to perform exorcisms legitimately upon the possessed without the local ordinary's particular and express permission. The ordinary grants it only to a priest distinguished for piety, knowledge, prudence, and integrity of life. Permission can be stable for an appointed exorcist or given for a particular case according to diocesan practice, but it must be real and express.
The priest follows the current approved ritual or another form lawfully permitted. Unauthorized faithful may not use the formula of major exorcism or the integral formula against Satan and the fallen angels extracted from the older rite. Calling an imperative formula a “deliverance prayer” does not remove the restriction.[3]
Discernment before the rite
Before proceeding, the priest must have moral certainty, after careful investigation, that extraordinary demonic presence rather than illness is at issue. Medical, psychiatric, and psychological evaluation can be essential. The Church expressly teaches that illness—especially psychological illness—is a different matter entrusted to medical science.
Privacy and safeguarding
The afflicted person's dignity, consent, safety, reputation, and medical care must be protected. Sessions are not entertainment, and publication of recordings or lurid details can cause grave harm. Assistants should be few, suitable, instructed, and bound to discretion; physical restraint or withholding treatment requires independent lawful justification and cannot be excused by spiritual language.
Rite and pastoral context
The rite includes psalms, Gospel proclamation, litanic and deprecatory prayers, the profession of faith, the Lord's Prayer, signs of the Cross, and formulas addressed as the ritual directs. It may need to be repeated, but repetition is governed by prudent judgment rather than theatrical escalation. Sacraments, ordinary prayer, conversion, and Christian community remain central to pastoral care.[4]
The faithful should reject two opposite errors: denial that demons are personal created spirits who can act, and credulity that attributes every misfortune, temptation, addiction, or illness to possession. The Church's disciplined rite joins confident faith in Christ's victory to sober testing of facts.
References
- Back to citation Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1673 — The Church's doctrine and discipline concerning exorcism.
- Back to citation Code of Canon Law, canons 1166–1172 — Sacramentals, their ministers, and the discipline of major exorcism.
- Back to citation Letter to Ordinaries regarding norms on Exorcism — Doctrinal and disciplinary boundaries for exorcism and prayers for deliverance.
- Back to citation Christian Faith and Demonology — Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith study on Catholic doctrine concerning Satan and demons.