I began my book Mysticism, Magic, and Monasteries (Os Justi Press, 2024) with a critique of a short video that was sent to me wherein a Roman Catholic priest and exorcist discusses why there is something ‘spiritually wrong’ with owning crystals and precious stones and deriving solace from them. I demonstrated in my analysis of that priest’s words that his epistemic framework is essentially Cartesian and thus deeply problematic from the perspective of the Church’s traditional metaphysics and epistemology. Moreover, by adopting his position he contradicts many saints and doctors of the Church. But what I did not know at the time was that this video was in fact heralding a then nascent but now fully grown online presence, namely that of the celebrity exorcists. There are nowadays countless videos of Catholic priests who are presumably trained exorcists talking endlessly not only about their experiences in deliverance ministries but also opining on every topic under the sun, from Mariology to tattoos.
From the outset, I should say that I am in favour of the Church’s ministry of exorcism, and it’s good that we have clergy who assist the faithful in this way. Demons are real and can cause havoc in people’s lives. One of my closest friends is a priest and trained exorcist, and he told me that not long ago he helped a young girl who had become possessed, though she herself was very pious. After weeks of pastoral care, there seemed to be a ‘spiritual wall’ which he kept coming up against. It later came to light that when the girl was a baby, her father had offered her to the devil in exchange for a professional promotion, which he then obtained. This information allowed my friend to take the steps necessary with the family and eventually spiritually liberate the girl from the demonic affliction wrought by her father’s sin. Such things occur, and it is wonderful that there are priests out there who can undo these malignities.
