‘Evil’ in society is driving growth in exorcisms, says church
Those holidaying in France should be aware of a risk unlikely to be covered by their travel insurance: the Devil.
Evil is on the rise amid family breakdown, unemployment and a deepening social malaise – at least according to the Catholic Church.
Consider, for instance, the number of exorcisms that its priests are performing in France. A decade ago, they carried out about 15 such rituals a year in the Paris region. Now the figure is running at about 50, according to Father Emmanuel Coquet, the deputy general secretary of the Conference of Bishops of France, who helps to run National Bureau of Exorcists.
Coquet said that the church was taking the issue seriously: ‘‘In general, bishops are more and more careful about whom they nominate as exorcists.’’
He said that about 2500 people contacted the Paris region diocese every year for advice about an exorcism. However, most were told that their problems did not require the intervention of an official diocesan exorcist.
Prayers, parish meetings or possibly medical treatment – and sometimes all three – were more appropriate in the majority of cases, Coquet said.
The applicants were the often ‘‘fragile’’ people who had been involved in spiritualism and mediumship, he said. The Paris region’s two exorcists are helped by lay people to decide what advice to give those who come to them for help.
Coquet said it was not that the Devil had been unleashed on France; rather, modern society offered more openings for evil.
‘‘It is true that we are seeing an increase in the number of people who are fragile and isolated, without family links to support them,’’ he said.
‘‘We live where the mark.’’
He said the growing demand for in a worrying society Devil can leave his exorcisms also resulted from a modern tendency for people to present themselves as helpless victims. Whereas once they would have tried to sort out their own problems – by going to church to pray, for example – now they were more likely to place themselves in the hands of an exorcist.
Some commentators believe that the rise in exorcisms is a global trend that can be attributed to Pope Francis, who has told confessors that they should not hesitate to refer parishioners to exorcists in cases of ‘‘genuine spiritual disturbance’’.
Some French entrepreneurs have taken him at his word. A growing number of unofficial exorcists are advertising their services on French websites, offering to evict demons for €100 an hour or more.
Coquet says it is possible to buy a home exorcism kit for €60. The church is seeking to curb such practices, accusing private exorcists of exploiting their clients’ suffering.
‘‘It is inconceivable for someone to proclaim themselves an exorcist,’’ Coquet said. ‘‘And it is an absolute criterion for us that exorcisms must be free.’’
He added that the prayers recited during an official exorcism were kept secret by the church. ‘‘We do not want them to circulate,’’ he said.