Dear Bill:

According to Canon Law a Solemn exorcism may only be performed by a priest with express permission of the bishop. Laity are sometimes invited to assist the priest as the laity are equally qualified by Christ to pray intercessory prayers and to assist in positions not reserved to priest, such as helping to restrain a possessed person if need be, handing the priest supplies such as Holy Water, and most importantly praying in support of what the priest is doing and for the poor possessed person.

Deliverance prayers outside of a Solemn Exorcism may be prayed by anyone. Christ Himself gave all Christian permission to cast out demons. The Church has restricted only one type of deliverance to priests, that which is a solemn Exorcism of the possessed. 

As a Deliverance Counselor I deal with lessor forms of demonization. Whenever we come across someone whom we suspect is in full possession we refer them to their bishop.

As John LaBriola wrote in his book, "Onward Catholic Soldier":

Deliverance ministry is substantially different than an exorcism. Deliverance ministry is not, therefore, a violation of any of the precepts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Code of Canon Law, or On the Current Norms Governing Exorcisms.

From Scripture we see Jesus giving the power to cast out demons first to his Apostles (Mark 3:15), then to the seventy-two disciples (Luke 10:17), then to all Christians (Mark 16:15-18).

The authority of the Faithful to cast out devils was acknowledged by several Patristic fathers such as St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen

The bottomline is that all Christians have permission to cast of demons. That permission was given by Christ Himself. But, the Church has the right and authority to regulate this activity. So far the Church regulates only Solemn Exorcisms of the possessed.

Now, because we all have the authority to do deliverance of those inflicted with lessor forms of demonization, that does mean we ought to do it? Battling demons, even in cases of lessor demonization, is still dangerous. St. Paul warns us that because we are allowed to do something doesn't mean we ought to do it (1 Cor 10:23; 1 Cor 6:12). In this case, a person needs to be called to do this work and trained before attempting to do a deliverance apostolate. This approach is to help avoid people getting hurt, the client or the deliverance counselor.

As to episcopal approbation of these sorts of apostolates, that is very rare. Most bishops seem to steer away from this as it is too controversial. There are a few deliverance apostolates in the United States that have support of their bishop, but very few.

In this the area of apostolate it is sorely true what Jesus said:  "The harvest (those afflicted) is great and the workmen (Deliverance counselors and exorcists) are few."

There is a beginning of hope on this score. There are now a growing movement amongst not only of laity, but also priests, to learn more about spiritual warfare and deliverance. I praise God for that.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary