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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Exorcism success rate	Paul	Sunday, August 5, 2007
Question: Brother, I am curious of the success rate of different Protestant or Jewish Exorcisms, as compared to Catholic ones. I know that some Protestant deliverance ministries have been successful in some cases, but since the Catholic Church has the fulleness of the truth I expect the Catholic success rate to be much higher. Have you experienced a situation where someone was delivered from a harassment or possesion only from a priest? I ask only because I have noticed from watching some of these possesion/haunting shows that a character may say after failing to help a person, "You need a Catholic priest, they understand these things better". to me this just points to the truth! Thanks
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Paul: There is no way to know the "success rate" of exorcisms performed by any religious group. Exorcisms are normally private rites that are not open to the public and, as far as I know, statistics are not compiled. In addition, to discern "success" in an exorcism is profoundly complex. There are many levels and layers of demonization and levels of freedom from demonic harassment. Also, there are times when it is God's will that a person remain suffering to one degree or another. Thus "success" is really the wrong term; it depends on the circumstances of the case and upon God's will for that person. Sometimes multiple exorcisms are required, sometimes a formal exorcism does not work at all. There is a famous case where the priests in the Rite of Exorcism failed, but a holy nun, if I remember correctly, was successful in casting out the demons through regular intercessions. The Catholic Church is the only group actually authorized to perform a solemn exorcism because only the Catholic Church has the keys to the kingdom. But any other group, or individuals (Catholic or not) can pray for liberation from demons. Technically this is called "simple exorcism" or more popularly, Deliverance. It is specialized intercessory prayer. Although anyone can pray for others to be delivered, we do not recommend that people get involved directly in Deliverance work unless they have been trained under an experienced deliverance counselor. With all this in consideration, because Catholic Church is the True Church of Jesus Christ in the Fullness of of the Faith, and with the sacramentals given to us by the Church, I believe that exorcism and deliverance will generally be more successful within the Catholic Church and Catholic Deliverance teams. Personally, I have had Baptists, Lutherans, Anglicans, Orthodox, non-denominational Christians, Pentecostals, and even Muslims come to me for help. As far as those "haunting" shows are concerned, those people usually posit theories of demons and spirits that are inaccurate and sometimes dangerous. Most of the misinformation that is peppered in these shows comes from Ed and Lorraine Warren (made famous when they investigated the "Amityville Horror" case. We will be doing an exposé on them in the next few months. I do find it interesting that when a person REALLY gets in trouble with demons, they tend ask help from the Catholic Church (even if they are otherwise anti-Catholic). :) God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Exorcism success rate

Paul

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Question:

Brother,

I am curious of the success rate of different Protestant or Jewish Exorcisms, as compared to Catholic ones.

I know that some Protestant deliverance ministries have been successful in some cases, but since the Catholic Church has the fulleness of the truth I expect the Catholic success rate to be much higher.

Have you experienced a situation where someone was delivered from a harassment or possesion only from a priest?

I ask only because I have noticed from watching some of these possesion/haunting shows that a character may say after failing to help a person, "You need a Catholic priest, they understand these things better". to me this just points to the truth!

Thanks

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Paul:

There is no way to know the "success rate" of exorcisms performed by any religious group. Exorcisms are normally private rites that are not open to the public and, as far as I know, statistics are not compiled.

In addition, to discern "success" in an exorcism is profoundly complex. There are many levels and layers of demonization and levels of freedom from demonic harassment. Also, there are times when it is God's will that a person remain suffering to one degree or another. Thus "success" is really the wrong term; it depends on the circumstances of the case and upon God's will for that person.

Sometimes multiple exorcisms are required, sometimes a formal exorcism does not work at all. There is a famous case where the priests in the Rite of Exorcism failed, but a holy nun, if I remember correctly, was successful in casting out the demons through regular intercessions.

The Catholic Church is the only group actually authorized to perform a solemn exorcism because only the Catholic Church has the keys to the kingdom. But any other group, or individuals (Catholic or not) can pray for liberation from demons. Technically this is called "simple exorcism" or more popularly, Deliverance. It is specialized intercessory prayer.

Although anyone can pray for others to be delivered, we do not recommend that people get involved directly in Deliverance work unless they have been trained under an experienced deliverance counselor.

With all this in consideration, because Catholic Church is the True Church of Jesus Christ in the Fullness of of the Faith, and with the sacramentals given to us by the Church, I believe that exorcism and deliverance will generally be more successful within the Catholic Church and Catholic Deliverance teams.

Personally, I have had Baptists, Lutherans, Anglicans, Orthodox, non-denominational Christians, Pentecostals, and even Muslims come to me for help.

As far as those "haunting" shows are concerned, those people usually posit theories of demons and spirits that are inaccurate and sometimes dangerous. Most of the misinformation that is peppered in these shows comes from Ed and Lorraine Warren (made famous when they investigated the "Amityville Horror" case. We will be doing an exposé on them in the next few months.

I do find it interesting that when a person REALLY gets in trouble with demons, they tend ask help from the Catholic Church (even if they are otherwise anti-Catholic). :)

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.