The Making of a Modern Exorcist

Arrogant is defined as "haughty, having or showing too high an opinion of one's own position or rights, contemptuous of others. In a new book, "The Rite: Making of a Modern Exorcist", Matt Baglio talks about the making of Father Gary Thomas, a long time priest, into an exorcist. The book is well written and well researched. It presents the Catholic view of the Devil and of the phenomenon called exorcism. The description of the exorcisms are believable and supportable from the countless anecdotal reports of those engaged in this ministry. I highly recommend the book for those who would like to see how the Catholic Church is dealing with the modern recognition of the existence of demons and the Devil.

However, the book presents a church which is arrogant to the extreme. While ignoring the words of scripture, the church states that only bishops may authorize exorcisms and only priests appointed by the church have authority to do exorcisms. While repeatedly pointing out that in the early church exorcisms were a normal ministry of laity, the church arrogantly claims that any attempt to deviate from Catholic norm is disobedient and a sign of demonic presence. The church arrogantly claims that only it among all of Christianity is capable of performing valid exorcisms. The church arrogantly claims that only Christianity is capable of casting out demons and all other religious traditions are practicing magic, which it roundly condemns.

First, I would say that I have performed the ministry of exorcism, first as a lay person, and then as a Rabbi for 38 years, more than double the time of many of the persons spoken of in the book. Even the chief exorcist of the Roman Church, Father Amorth, has not been doing exorcisms as long as I have; he has only done so since 1985. While I have the rank of bishop, I do not need nor do I have the permission from the Pope to perform exorcisms. Having performed at least 100 exorcisms in 38 years, I have been accustomed to seeing the responses and have learned the information that the book presented without the teaching of the Church. The Holy Spirit, Michael the Archangel, and Raphael the Archangel were my teachers. Further, no demon has ever said to me, "Rabbi, you do not have authority over us" or "Rabbi, you forgot to get the Pope or the Bishop's approval and therefore we do not have to go." In fact, the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus specifically says that a person who heals, another part of the exorcism ministry, is already ordained and does not need the intervention of the Church to authorize his or her ministry.

Second, the Scripture in the book of Acts (19:13) talks of Jewish exorcists using the name of Jesus. When speaking of Jewish exorcists, we cannot be sure who Acts is speaking about but they were clearly not Nasoreans, because the early church attests to the authority of Nasorean ministers to cast out demons. There are exorcism prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the book of Tobit, which even the Catholic Church holds to be canonical, teaches that the Archangel Raphael, the Archangel of Exorcisms, can cast out demons and did so in the book with a magical rite which is called theurgy. So we see that the Jewish authority in exorcism is just as firmly established as the Catholic authority.

Lastly, every major religion and most minor religions have methods of performing exorcisms and are successful in that ministry.

Therefore, the arrogant Catholic claim that it is solely authorized to perform exorcisms is without basis or factual authority and is in fact an act of pride, a sin by Catholic standards.

Nonetheless, I heartily support the position that the Catholic Church has taken in regard to the growing infestation of demons in the world. Not only are there many more infested with demons (probably because 2/3 of all people who have ever lived are alive today), but also the general moral state of humanity is at such a low ebb that demons find a welcome home when they come knocking on ones door. When I speak of a low moral ebb, I am not talking about drugs, abortion, promiscuity, homosexuality, etc. because these things are symptoms, not causes. The problem is a materialism that demons can offer to aid. The problem is a selfishness even among religious that makes them want fancy houses instead of service. The book makes a point of saying that the exorcist needs to be in a state of grace when performing is ministry because the demon can read the exorcist's heart like a book and can play on his deficiencies.