We are pleased to share an excerpt from Adam Blai’s new book, “The History of Exorcism,” by Sophia Institute Press.
When we say exorcism, we usually refer to the solemn exorcism we have seen in movies and television: a liturgical rite performed by priests intended to drive demons out of a possessed person. Historically, it was not always a fixed liturgical rite, and it was not always performed by priests. In addition to solemn exorcisms there are also exorcistic prayers contained in other liturgical rites that are not solemn exorcisms, such as Baptism and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Finally, there is the “minor” exorcism, written in 1890, intended to free homes, locations, or objects from demonic attachment and manifestation. There are also sacramentals that have exorcistic properties that drive away demons, such as holy water, Church bells, and the St. Benedict medal.
The form of exorcism that has required the most attention in the history of the Church is solemn exorcism. It is the form given the most prominence by Jesus, in action and word. It is also the form most fraught with danger, as it is the circumstance when the Church directly clashes with a demon that is inhabiting a body with which it can strike out, speak, tempt, and manipulate others.
Exorcism has come into a new prominence in Western culture since the 1960s. This is the result of a number of events, as well as tensions within the Church and between the Church and the world. The Church of Satan was founded in 1966, as well as a number of less famous black magic cults. Witchcraft was recreated by Gerald Gardner in the 1960s, spawning the myriad forms of Wicca seen today. Deliverance prayer came to the fore in the Catholic world with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal starting in 1967. William Peter Blatty wrote his book, The Exorcist, based on a real case (Robbie Mannheim, exorcised in 1949), in 1971. The movie The Exorcist, by William Friedkin, was released in 1973, and it had a huge global impact. Anneliese Michel died after an exorcism in Germany in 1976, and in the same year, Fr. Martin’s famous book Hostage to the Devil was released worldwide. The “satanic panic” occurred in the 1980s and 1990s in the United States. Fr. Amorth’s book An Exorcist Tells His Story was released in English in 1999. All of this is not to say that exorcism had entirely left the awareness of the West before the 1960s. There were earlier examples, such as the pamphlet Begone Satan! A Soul-Stirring Account of Diabolical Possession, originally published in 1935.
Exorcism as it is portrayed today was actually created in 1614 as part of the Council of Trent (1545–1563). The council was largely a reaction to the Protestant Reformation (1517 onward). The council’s particular work on exorcism was a reaction to criticisms of exorcism generally, and criticisms of how it was done in the Middle Ages. There were many exorcism manuals before then, with improvisation and even magic used in some exorcisms. There were also misuses, abuses, and misdiagnoses of possession. In 1703, all versions of exorcism but the 1614 rite, with its strict rules for diagnosing and treating possession, were banned.
Through her whole history, the Church has allowed exorcism to flourish during periods of internal division, and when an outside spiritual enemy is feared. It was often used a proof of the validity of the true Faith, and so historically was sometimes done publicly, or recounted publicly. Demons provide an unambiguous representation of evil. They can easily represent whatever belief, movement, or political force that threatens the Church. Since they are a pure evil that defies all human authority, they were seen to prove which faith is approved by God, since God is presumed to only empower the true Faith. The words spoken by demons, thought to tell the truth in certain circumstances, became “suitable and versatile weapons in inner-church conflicts, theological controversies, and church politics.” This reliance on exorcism and the testimony of demons was not a consistent feature of Church history, nor is it a feature today, but it was present in some ages.
Exorcism was common in the early Church when internal arguments about the Faith were many, and an external pagan enemy (Rome) threatened to destroy it. Successful exorcism also served as a proof of holiness for saintly men and women in the early Church (when there was no fixed rite of exorcism, and it was not limited to priests). Exorcisms were used as public tests of which version of the Faith was valid in the renaissance. There were instances of alternating exorcisms attempted by clergy from Catholic and Protestant Churches. Later, the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) caused internal division in the Church again, which continues to this day. It is perhaps no accident of history that Western culture and the Church have had a renewed interest in the demonic and exorcism in the years since Vatican II.
1. T.|B. Allen, Possessed: The True Story of an Exorcism, 2nd ed. (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2000).
2. F.|D. Goodman, The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel (Eugene, OR: Resource, 1981).
3. M. Martin, Hostage to the Devil (New York: Bantam Books, 1971).
4. G. Amorth, An Exorcist Tells His Story (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999).
5. Celestine Kapsner, O.S.B., “Begone Satan!,” EWTN, accessed March 10, 2023, https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/begone-satan-6067
6. Ferber, Demonic Possession and Exorcism in Early Modern France (London: Routledge, 2004), p. 4.
7. F.|D. Goodman, How about Demons? Possession and Exorcism in the Modern World (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1988), p. 97.
Author Bio – Adam Blai
Adam Blai is a Church decreed expert on religious demonology and exorcism for the Pittsburgh diocese. He has helped train exorcists for over fifteen years, and has attended hundreds of solemn exorcisms. His journey started in brain wave research and psychology, and is now focused on the spiritual realities of miracles, angels, demons, and possession. He is also the author of several books including The Exorcism Files.
