[Magdalen] Exorcism

[Jay Weigel]

I do not buy into it. Sorry, but there it is. I find exorcism a relic of
the medieval period and a misunderstanding of mental illness, primarily.

Evil exists. People buy into it by various means and become possessed by
it, but "exorcism" is not going to fix their problems. It's primarily a
rational decision.

I have been in attendance at a Pentecostal/charismatic service where a
visiting pastor claimed to "cast out demons" from people. It appeared to be
an exercise in wild emotionalism. I was so appalled I had to leave. (This
was a service sponsored by the evangelical church I had been attending on
my journey back to the Episcopal church, a long story which I've told
before. It was actually the most reserved Pentecostal church you can
imagine, being in the upper midwest <g>) I never went near any such thing
again.

YMMV and probably does.

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 10:59 AM, Georgia DuBose <gdubose at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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*
> >
>