Book demystifies exorcisms and aims to be a practical guide

Exorcism and demonic possessions is the new book by theologian Nuno André, who aims to demystify the figure of the devil, create a guide for exorcist priests and broaden the debate on the subject among Christians.

“I considered that there was a big gap between what theological knowledge is and the way the theology course itself works and the dynamics of the Catholic Church, when it prepares its priests”, the theologian stated, in an interview with Lusa, considering that a “question of prejudice” persists, which places those who speak about these topics in a “conservative, retrograde or medievalist” side.

Public discussion of the topic by a priest “can impede progression in the hierarchy”, because he becomes considered “conservative and retrograde” or someone “who does not correspond to the spirit of the current Church of Francis”.

On the other hand, there are groups of bishops and priests, “more outside of Portugal”, who use the practice of exorcism as a way of “appropriating a kind of purity of Christianity, because they still hold these concepts and still pray to ward off the devil and still respect the diabolical existence”, said the consultant for the Vatican’s Dicastery of Communication.

“To a certain extent, the devil is a burden for the Church” and “exorcisms are not a topic of debate. For example, the Catholic University does not have a single chair of demonology,” he explained.

According to Nuno André, who completed the course in Rome, recognized by the Vatican, on Exorcisms and Liberation, the devil acts in society in an “ordinary way”, through temptations and sin, but also with an “extraordinary dimension, which are possessions and inexplicable phenomena”.

Called the “Treasure of Exorcists”, the book presents itself as a “practical manual of defense against the dark arts, which reveals the secrets of ancient codices on occult forces”, from the Catholic publisher Paulinas.

In more recent centuries, exorcism and possessions have been falling out of the Church's list of priorities, alongside scientific discoveries that indicated that the vast majority of problems were of a psychic or psychiatric nature, which science could resolve, he admitted.

However, “not everything is the devil, not everything is illness. There are phenomena that we still cannot explain and that are disturbing and that we must pay attention to and, above all, have a religious response”.

In many cases, the exorcisms worked like placebos, due to the “theatricality and suggestion” of the protagonists, explained Nuno André, who also has training in illusionism, and detected “many stage tricks” that led people to believe.

But the “Church continues to believe that there are spiritual forces that affect human beings, that affect the environment around human beings, and the Church gives an answer that it calls exorcism”, a ritual that has “its own liturgy and that only an authorized priest can celebrate”, along with “prayers of liberation” that can be performed by anyone.

“The Vatican has very clear orders on how its bishops and priests should act when faced with a question of possible possession and this book will touch precisely on this point”, seeking to explain how it should be done.

To this end, the author used literature from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, with emphasis on the Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of the Witches), among other original sources.

So, “priests needed to know how to deal with the issue of the Devil, of exorcisms and so, in a very systematic way, an entire narrative was created around the devil, explaining how to exorcise, what are the most effective prayers, what are the procedures, what are the precautions”, he explained.

The book also shows “how the devil or the figure of the devil was created and fixed by a Christian narrative”, he said, recalling that the image of Satan corresponds to images of other gods and “the influence of a cultural context” at the time of the construction of the ideology of Christianity.

“The devil often serves as an excuse for many things: Adam will say, ‘It wasn’t me, it was Eve who gave it to me.’ Eve will say, ‘It wasn’t me, it was the serpent.’ And the wretched serpent is the one who takes the blame, a serpent that is the prefiguration of the devil,” he says ironically, recalling that the figure of Satan does not exist in Judaism, Islam or Buddhism.

Furthermore, the author reflects on machismo in the Church, due to the way it limited the status of witch to women, seen as “a great ally of the devil”.

Man, according to Christian doctrine, could only be a sorcerer, who is “more like a healer who uses the forces of nature and the forces of the occult to prepare his schemes”.

Therefore, the “Church was not fair to women”, admitted the author, who also addresses the use of drugs to simulate spiritual experiences, which still happens today with many charlatans.

“Women have been vilified throughout all these centuries” and “we have to put an end to this discourse”, because this conservative discourse affects their existence in society.

Regarding requests to witches, Nuno André says that the centuries have not changed the themes: “love, health, professional success and money are the metrics that still exist today”.