Rise in Exorcisms in France

[Quid est Veritas?]

The rise of ‘freelance’ exorcists in France

Apparently, there is an increased demand for exorcists in France. The Catholic Church is inundated with requests and is reticent to respond, so more and more freelance spiritualists are called upon. There are few official exorcists, but even these are seeing increased demand for their services.

Later in the article, the same phenomenon was also found in Britain. People seeking exorcisms in excess of what Churches are willing or able to supply.

I find it odd, considering the increasing secularism of both these countries. The devil may be in the details here.

 

[cloudyday2]

I wonder if this is due to the decline of regular Catholic church attendance? This would result in fewer priests and even fewer priests trained as exorcists. There might be a population of cultural Catholics who do not attend church often but still would seek the service of an exorcist. So the supply drops faster than the demand, but both supply and demand and dropping due to increased secularism and awareness of mental illnesses.

Another possibility is that mental illnesses might be increasing due to poor nutrition or other factors. It seems like mental illnesses are a lot more common than I remember 30 years ago. I don't know if that is due to increased cultural acceptance and awareness of mental illness or actually an increase in mental illness.

The increase in freelance exorcists probably increases the risk that people with mental illness will not be detected and directed to a psychiatrist. The Catholic exorcists are trained to recognized mental illness.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

I wonder if this is due to the decline of regular Catholic church attendance? This would result in fewer priests and even fewer priests trained as exorcists. There might be a population of cultural Catholics who do not attend church often but still would seek the service of an exorcist. So the supply drops faster than the demand, but both supply and demand and dropping due to increased secularism and awareness of mental illnesses.

The article mentions that there are fewer Church exorcists active today than many years before, but the demand for their services is increasing as well, even though their numbers are fairly stable.

Another possibility is that mental illnesses might be increasing due to poor nutrition or other factors. It seems like mental illnesses are a lot more common than I remember 30 years ago. I don't know if that is due to increased cultural acceptance and awareness of mental illness or actually an increase in mental illness.

The increase in freelance exorcists probably increases the risk that people with mental illness will not be detected and directed to a psychiatrist. The Catholic exorcists are trained to recognized mental illness.

I agree. Freelance exorcists would be far more likely to just exorcise without directing to mental health services. Not only lack of training, but the profit motive. If someone was fool enough to hire you once, if the patient continues in that vein, they might also hire the exorcist as repeat business.

 

[cloudyday2]

Another factor is that some Protestant churches have deliverance ministries that perform exorcisms. For example, in the US I suspect there are a lot more exorcisms performed by deliverance ministries or concerned laymen saying prayers as opposed to the specially trained Catholic exorcists. So any analysis needs to look at the Protestant activities too.

EDIT: Also an interesting fact is that the baptism ritual includes a mini exorcism ritual.

 

[jayem]

It's obviously a scam. Just a way to swindle credulous and vulnerable people. Worse than those trashy "psychic" phone lines.

Not to politicize it, but France and the UK have well-established national health systems. If there's really such a demand, it makes me wonder about the availability and quality of psychiatric care.