Casting out the Myth: Did we perform Illegal Exorcisms?

 

The Apostolic Visitator, Bishop Robert McGuckin of Australia, and the Chancellor of Christchurch Diocese had an informal meeting with Fr Michael Mary before the Visitation interviews began.  Fr Michael Mary asked what the Visitation was about.  “The television programmes,” he was told.  Thus, by inference, it was about the supposed illegal exorcisms that were their focus.

The priest who had supposedly carried out these illegal exorcisms was absent, recovering from an extremely grave, life-threatening medical condition.  The Visitator was content not to interview him, which is strange given that these supposed illegal exorcisms were one of the primary focuses of the Visitation.  In fact, exorcisms were never brought up in any of the Visitator’s interviews.

From the Visitator’s report: “Some exorcisms performed by FSSR priests in the past may have been approved but others seem not to have been.”  Given that exorcisms, legal or otherwise, were not spoken about during any of our interviews with the Visitator, and that he didn’t interview the priest who supposedly performed them, one wonders how he managed even to come to this weak conclusion.

The truth is that not all exorcisms are equal.  The respected Dominican moral theologians Frs. Charles Callan & John McHugh say: “Exorcisms are…of two kinds, the solemn and the private [aka major & minor]. The former are…reserved to clerics who have a special and express permission from the Ordinary [Bishop]. The latter kind may [in certain circumstances] be made even by members of the laity….It is recommended that priests frequently use private exorcisms, at least secretly, for persons who are vexed by temptations or scruples.”

Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous of Sydney, Australia says in his introduction to a 2010 manual of minor exorcisms: “Minor exorcisms can be a normal part of the ministry of priests and are used to assist people in the spiritual struggle, particularly in the case of oppression.”  The author, Fr Healey explains: “A part, an important part, of the ordinary ministry of a priest is the role of utilising prayers of minor exorcism to meet the spiritual needs of the faithful.” These require no permission.

We had full, written faculties for the cases of Solemn Exorcism our priests performed from three Ordinaries of Christchurch diocese (two Bishops and an Administrator).  There is no “may have been approved” about it.  The faculties will be in the diocesan archives for inspection or could have been provided by us, had we been asked.

All other similar prayers performed by our priests were the minor exorcisms mentioned above, which do not require the permission of a Bishop and are considered by all to be a potential part of the normal ministry of a Catholic priest. 

This distinction is, at this stage, unacknowledged.

It would be extremely constructive and advantageous if all those who claim to have had an exorcism came forward and their paperwork could be examined and verified.  In this way the “may have been...” and the “seem not to have been...” could be entirely cleared up.  One might be forgiven for thinking that this would have been done during the Visitation.  Vague and unspecific statements and accusations are very dangerous.

The extravagant claims in the media (such as that we beat a pregnant woman to get the devil out of her) are inventions of pure fantasy.  If only the Visitator had troubled himself to ask us about them.