Ever since Father Thomas Euteneuer became president of Human Life International in 2000 I have been impressed by the clarity and reasonableness of his writings on life issues.  When I learned that Father Euteneuer was also an exorcist I thought it would be really interesting to know what he had to say about exorcising evil spirits.  His new book, Exorcism and the Church Militant does not disappoint.

It is telling that Rev. John Corapi in his Foreward writes:

Everyone seeking a more complete knowledge of the Catholic-Christian  faith, indeed, reality itself, can profit from a careful and prayerful reading of this book.  Priests especially should profit from this material, for it is my personal experience that the need for it has increased exponentially in recent years.  Preparation for this dimension of spiritual warfare is singularly lacking in almost all seminaries, novitiates, or other Catholic institutions of learning.  One of the reasons for this is that many such institutions have faculty that from all indications don’t necessarily believe what the Church believes.  This leaves a terrible void, so much so that it is often extremely difficult to find a priest with even the most rudimentary knowledge of this essential facet of priestly ministry.  The effect on souls can be devastating.

According to Father Euteneuer Satan nowadays is “walking tall in powerful structures of sin like abortion, pornography, sex slavery, rapacious greed and terrorism.”  And, again, “nowadays objective evil is displayed out in the open air with impunity, celebrated in the public forum and strategized in plush board rooms.”  Also, “if the measure of a war’s ferociousness is the number of casualties, the modern war to exterminate souls is unprecedented in the history of humanity; it is nothing worse than history’s worst nuclear holocaust in spiritual terms.”

Obviously Father does not mince words and those who have eyes to see will agree that evil is now afoot.  And, according to Euteneuer, “the Church has yet to seriously enter the battle and become what it is called to be, namely, the Church Militant.”   Christ has given the church the authority — it has only to be used.

Euteneuer’s  book is written primarily for priests who by their priesthood are specifically equipped for exorcism.  In the Church exorcism is defined as “a rite for expelling demons from persons who are possessed, authorized by a bishop and limited by canon law to the ministry of priests.”

All this, and more, is just in the introduction!

The Table of Contents  is unusual in that each chapter is divided into a number of questions which can be easily scanned to locate topics of particular interest.  For example, in the chapter on Jesus:  The Chief Exorcist, he deals with the question:  Can other religions perform successful exorcisms?    In the chapter on the devil and his minions, we learn how much power the devil has over us, whether we can become possessed inadvertently, and whether the sacraments protect us against evil.  There are further chapters on discernment, healing and deliverance.  Among his samples of deliverance prayers (which are appropriately prayed by  the laity) are prayers asking the Lord to free someone from the power of evil, prayers asking the intercession of the angels and saints, prayers of repentance, prayers of forgiveness, renunciation of evil spirits one might have picked up, prayers to loose bonds, prayers to bind spiritual evil, rebuke evil, and reject evil.  “Rejecting the devil and all his influences is a rational and calculated declaration of war and a condition for living as a member of the Kingdom of God.”

There is a further chapter on the conduct of an exorcism which contains the actual session-by-session progress of an successful exorcism.  I have a sneaking suspicion that if you were to witness an exorcism you would no longer wonder if demons really exist. The appendix contains the texts of several rites of exorcism.

As a long time member of the Charismatic Renewal, I am familiar with prayers for healing and deliverance.   As mentioned above, these prayers can be, and should be, prayed by the ordinary committed Christian.  Prayers of exorcism, however, are the the province of ordained priests.  This book is essentially a call by Father Euteneuer to his brother priests to rise to the occasion.  He feels the need for priests willing and able to deal with demons is bound to increase as “The 21st century is a moral and spiritual battlefield of such immense proportions that no era of human history will  have ever seen a war like it.”

Limited though my knowledge of  this field may be, it is my guess that this is an important and much needed work.

~~~

He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  —  John 8:44

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Exorcism