Exorcisms,
practiced by all major religions
, are not something of the past.
Born thousands of years ago, they have survived the evolution of beliefs until
reaching strength in 2024
.
For religious people, an exorcism (the word derives from the Greek
exorkismos
, meaning 'to bind by oath') consists of
a practice against an evil force
.
It is about expelling it from some place, from a person, from an object, from a place because that place is considered evil.
Belgium is experiencing a boom.
According to the public radio and television of the Flemish part of the country, the VRT, the Flemish exorcists, who are authorized to practice by the bishops,
are not capable of taking on the large amount of work
they have.
A Flemish abbey, Averbode, located in the province of Flemish Brabant, says that they are performing more than
1,000 exorcisms a year
, more than three a day.
What's wrong with the Belgians?
Elements for an exorcism.
Photo: EFE archive
A priest who calls himself 'Geert' (it is a pseudonym to protect his identity, but VRT knows his real identity) told the television channel that he no longer does exorcisms because
he is unable to take on any more work
.
Among religious people,
only a minority has official authorization
from bishops to carry out these practices, despite the growing popularity of what the general public calls
“exorcisms of the devil
.”
Television reports that many parishes are in a similar situation and that requests for exorcisms are rejected simply because there are not enough parish priests authorized to perform them.
Exorcism manuals from the 18th century
Historian Kristof Smeyers, professor at the University of Leuven and author of research on the history of exorcism in Flanders, explained to the television channel that “exorcism has been practiced informally for a long time and that in the 17th century the Belgian Catholic Church decided incorporate it into their practices and for the first time wrote down
how they should be done and who should do them
.
Then he began to train parish priests so that they would be in charge.
The exorcism manuals
have hardly changed since then
, nor has the training of parish priests, who continue to use
books written at the beginning of the 18th century.
'Geert' explained on television that in addition to training in Belgium, many parish priests attend courses in Rome and that he would like to go to the Vatican to improve his training as an exorcist.
Scene from "The Exorcist"
He also says that an exorcism
is nothing spectacular
and rejects the version given in the movies, such as 'The Exorcist', a film by William Friedkin, based on a book by William Peter Blatty, which in 1973 left an indelible mark on the cinema of terror.
In it, Max von Sydow played one of the two priests who tried to get the devil out of young Regan's body.
How is an exorcism performed?
'Geert' explains that now the process
begins with “an exploratory conversation”
and that the person who is the object of the exorcism “tells his story freely.
Afterwards, a very long prayer is said in front of her, but nothing that has to do with a physical performance.
She never puts a hand on her.
It is, explains the Louvain historian,
“a dialogue with the devil”
and the manuals used by parish priests recommend being very cautious because
the devil lies a lot
and anything he says in that dialogue could be a lie.
It is understood that he speaks through the supposedly possessed person.
Is exorcism sexist?
The historian says that it is much
more common for the devil to be detected in women than in men
and that therefore many more women are the subject of exorcisms than men.
The deceased Gabriele Amorth, in the middle of an exorcism of a woman.
Photo: Clarín Archive.
The parish priest said on television that most of those who come to him “are
people who are stuck in their lives,
who feel that they
cannot move forward
and attribute the problem to the fact that they are possessed by superhuman strength.
“We live in uncertain times
and people have fewer certainties to hold on to and find it more difficult to explain certain things.”
And works?
The parish priest assures that around half of those who say they are possessed by the evil one
claim to feel better after the exorcism.