Do we still need priests exorcists ? The question arises in Switzerland after a decision announced Thursday, November 24 on the Swiss regional radio SRF Ostschweiz: Mgr Joseph Bonnemain, bishop of Chur, declared that he would not appoint a new exorcist in his diocese.
“No need to find a mysterious cause”
A doctor by training, a former member of the delegation of the Holy See to the World Health Organization (WHO) and having worked in hospital chaplaincies, Joseph Bonnemain judges today that he “it is not necessary to want to find mysterious causes” for alleged cases of demonic possession.
“We are all human beings who carry within us strengths and weaknesses, he explained. Anyone facing difficult social, professional or health situations can seek treatment. »“There are classic solutions for this: medical, psychological, psychotherapeutic”, he added.
The diocese no longer had an exorcist priest since the death at the age of 76, in February 2020, of Christoph Casetti, a former priest in charge of this ministry.
The decision of the Bishop of Chur questions: if a diocese can do without an exorcist priest, then what is the use of this ministry? What is the specificity of this function compared to traditional medicine?
For some exorcist priests, the mission of the Church resides first and foremost in welcoming people waiting for this support. “To do without an exorcist priest is almost a kind of sin against charity and against faith”, advances Guy-Emmanuel Cariot, exorcist priest of the diocese of Pontoise, who observes that “People under spiritual influence are in great pain. »“We can’t just send them back to psychiatrists: they will be unhappy”, also warns Father André Cabes, exorcist priest of the diocese of Tarbes-Lourdes.
Especially since, for these exorcist priests, the spiritual dimension of the person deserves to be taken care of and cared for, in the same way as psychological and physical suffering. “These different dimensions of the human person are not cut with a knife: they interfere and communicate”, nuance André Cabes. “But they are all the same different angles of attack”, he believes.
“Demonic Reality Exists”
This service of course presupposes the existence of the daemon. “The Church identifies an enemy”, recalls Father Cariot. “Demonic reality exists, not just for tormented or possessed people,” develops André Cabes, who describes the demon as “a presence that divides, damages and destroys”. The priest compares him to “caries in the tooth” : “It is a negating presence, without autonomy: it is parasitic. »
In two and a half years of ministry as an exorcist priest, André Cabes affirms that he has never seen cases of spectacular possessions, “with people throwing cabinets or rolling on the floor”, as seen in horror movies. However, it is frequently observed in people “torments or evil presences”. For him, the prayer of exorcism thus aims to “purify them” and especially to “to open a spiritual path of deliverance”, “grafted on the life of Christ”.
Parallel psychological support
In this accompaniment, medicine and exorcism are not opposed. “People often suffer from a psychological problem, but it’s not necessarily just that,” judge André Cabes, who is accompanied in his mission by a former psychiatrist. “And even in what is simply psychic, the devil makes use of our weaknesses: we risk distancing ourselves from God through suffering or depression. » Often, these priests describe, the people they receive receive parallel psychological support.
According to these priests in high demand – André Cabes is called upon several times a week, even several times a day – the exorcism service also makes it possible to avoid having recourse to mediums or healers, who meet with great success and are often abusively expensive.
Do we still need exorcists? The diocese of Chur renounces to appoint