I’ve just read an article on CiF Belief about exorcism. It was ok. The author talks to an exorcist about this and that and then moves on to the process. Not in too much detail…
Exorcism begins with discernment – determining whether the person is possessed, or just thinks they are (or someone else just thinks they are). “We don’t do them on demand,” says Thomas. I was interested by the possibility of people being brought in by others. “The person who is possessed may not even realise it. It’s more frequent that someone would bring a person in,” Paprocki said. (This is my fear. What if my mother decides I’m possessed? My neighbour? My editor?)
It then moves on to the discernment…
A team does discernment. “I have a physician, a clinical psychologist, and a psychiatrist, all of whom are practicing Catholics,” says Thomas. “Out of a hundred I exorcise five.” He says the exorcist is the ultimate skeptic. “I never assume when someone says ‘I need an exorcism’ that they do.”
WTF? The exorcist is the ultimate skeptic? Not the psychiatrist or the physician (who I’m presuming will be a doctor) but the guy that drives demons out of people is the hardest to convince.
How would a physician know if someones possessed? Take blood sample and look for little gremlins? Where the fuck do they get a psychiatrist that believes that something takes over someones mind, rather than suppressed memories or trauma is screwing with someones head?
Religious people. They fucking amaze me sometimes.