[Magdalen] Exorcism

[Georgia DuBose]

Exorcism occurs--very rarely--in the Episcopal Church, and many bishops
have access to priests trained to that extremely specialized ministry. Any
priest who thinks that exorcism may be required must go to his or her
bishop for discussion, and possibly reference to an exorcist.

I have had occasion in the past year to recommend an old friend, who had
been told by a shaman that her daughter needed exorcism, to the nearest
bishop, who did me the kindness of not laughing at me, and recommended my
friend to a very pastorally gifted priest (NOT an exorcist) for an
interview and review of the situation before the bishop was willing to get
an involved. This situation was way more complicated than I am indicating.

At National Cathedral when I was the chaplain on duty, a man came in
demanding exorcism. I told him that sometimes the Rite of Reconciliation
helped, and that I would hear his confession if he wished. We went through
the RR, and he said, "No, it's still there." It was very clear to me that
he was on drugs, as is the case with many people who say they need
exorcism. I called his bishop's office, told the assistant that the bishop
might be hearing from him, and gave the man the bishop's telephone number.
I doubt that he ever followed through.

Finally, a young woman who had been in my congregation in Harpers Ferry,
West Virginia, came to me for exorcism, which I told her I could not do.
She had been hanging out with a woman in the lower town who briefly had a
"Faerie" shop there, and who had a lot of ritualistic stuff connected with
witchcraft in her merchandise. She had some pretty nasty books, which the
young woman had read. The young woman insisted that she needed exorcism,
but again, drugs were clearly involved. I talked to my bishop, and he said,
"You know most of these people who think they need exorcism actually need
to be in rehab, right?" I said that I was very aware of that; I was just
letting him know that I had been asked. He said, "Get to know this girl,
and her situation better, and if you actually think that exorcism is
required, I will get you an exorcist." The young woman did eventually end
up in rehab, and is now a registered nurse. Again, I am telescoping the
situation considerably; I am pretty sure she never went through exorcism.

In brief: do I think exorcism is ever required? Yes. Have I ever seen a
case where it was actually required? In my opinion, no. Are bishops here
sympathetic to people seeking exorcism? Yes, but I think most of them share
my former bishop's opinion that the problem is usually drugs. Do I believe
evil is an entity? That is interesting language. I believe evil exists, and
as to how it "formulates," I don't know. I know that I have neither the
training nor the spiritual strength necessary to be an exorcist, and I
would never try to accomplish an exorcism on my own. The two bishops I have
spoken to directly about it made it very clear both that they took my
questions seriously, and that they are of the opinion that the process is
very rarely required. However, it was also clear to me that both of them
had access to trained exorcists should they perceive the need arising.

Georgia+

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 6:18 AM, Ian Gomersall <ian.gomersall at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I wonder what people's views are on evil as an entity - and so also on
> exorcism.
>
> We're running an occasional series on Big Questions at our church and
> Exorcism is the current one.
>
> Have a look at:
>  https://stchrysostoms.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/exorcism-a-big-question/
> <https://stchrysostoms.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/exorcism-a-big-question/>
>
> When I think of some of the evil things that groups of people have done /
> do, I can't help but think the whole is greater than the sum of the parts
> ...
>
> Ian
>
> *Ian Gomersall*
>