Time to Exorcise Every Diocese and Parish in the World, Part II

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In the first part of this article I examined the urgent need to reclaim the wisdom of Pope Leo XIII's Prayer of Exorcism against Satan and the fallen angels to counter the supernatural evil at work in the U.S.A., Europe and the British Isles. Following his vision of demons converging to attack the Church, Pope Leo XIII established a line of defense consisting of instruction that his prayer to St. Michael must be recited at the end of each Mass, and that the world's bishops and priests frequently recite his prayer of exorcism in their dioceses and parishes. The abandonment of these Leonine defences has been a catastrophic misjudgement.

First Great Exorcism Conducted in the World

This is why I consider the news that a Great Exorcism has been conducted for the first time in the world, in Mexico, to be a very significant development for the entire Catholic Church.

It is reported that on May 20, 2015 the Cardinal Emeritus of Guadalajara, assisted by bishops, priests and an exorcist, conducted a Magno Exorcismo, or Great Exorcism, in the Cathedral of San Luis Potosí. According to Cdl. Sandoval Íñiguez, the Great Exorcism "is a prayer asking God to drive away the Enemy, to drive him away from these places. From San Luis, first of all, and then from all of Mexico." His Eminence further explained why he thought it necessary to conduct a Great Exorcism for the archdiocese of San Luis and Mexico:

The very grave situation we are living through in Mexico, whose root is very deep, beyond human malevolence; it is the devil, who is very connected to death. He is a murderer from the beginning ... violence against young and old ... abortions are performed even when it is not legalized, but when a country, a Christian country, legalizes abortion, that is a tragedy. It is a very, very grave sin. It's time for people to become more aware of the seriousness of the situation in Mexico. Acts of revenge, now occurring between assassins and the government; deaths here, deaths there, and deaths everywhere: this violence is nothing else but the Devil who is tearing us apart.

Archbishop Cabrero, the Ordinary of San Luis, explained what the rite of the Great Exorcism includes:

Prayers, for example, about the problem of divorce and of abortion, which often are favored by inhuman laws, laws that go against nature itself. We ask God to free us from the strong presence of the Evil One, that makes itself felt. To do that, we turn to this special prayer, which is certainly extraordinary, but which is nonetheless a Church practice.

The archbishop expressed the hope that the Great Exorcism would result in his people knowing "the dignity of the human person; that we will be able to see how God calls us both to holiness and to become truly conscious of our Christian vocation and of his call to eternal life."

Father José Antonio Fortea, the world-famous exorcist and author of Interview with an Exorcist, assisted the bishops and priests conducting the Great Exorcism. Father Fortea told the Catholic News Agency, "[T]his rite of exorcism, beautiful and liturgical, had never before taken place in any part of the world, although it had taken place in a private manner as when Saint Francis [exorcised] the Italian city of Arezzo."

The exorcist identified the signs of supernatural evil present in a country that require this unique rite of exorcism:

To the extent there is more witchcraft and satanism going on in a country, to that extent there will be more extraordinary manifestations of those powers of darkness. To the extent sin increases more and more in a country, to that extent it becomes easier for the demons to tempt people.

However, Fr. Fortea cautioned that conducting one exorcism would not be enough to rid Mexico of demonic evil:

It would be a big mistake to think that by performing a full-scale exorcism of the country everything would automatically change right away. If with the power we've received from Christ we expel the demons from a country, this will certainly have positive repercussions, because we'll make a great number of the tempters flee, even if this exorcism is partial. We don't drive out all the evil spirits from a country with just one ceremony. But even though all will not be expelled, those that were removed are not there anymore.

The Need for Great Exorcisms in the U.S.A., Ireland and Britain

I propose that the schemes of Satan are so advanced in the U.S.A., Britain and Ireland that the most effective act of entrustment of the Church, and our countries, to the power of Our Lord would be our bishops and priests conducting the rite of the Great Exorcism in the cathedrals of every diocese. It would be an act of humility on behalf of our bishops which in effect says, to paraphrase Pope Francis, "We can't safeguard the Church, we can't cure the Church from the evils that attack us from within the people of God, and that attack us from secular society." Only Our Lord can defeat the prince of the world and his temptations to compromise with the spirit of the worldliness that is clearly at work within the churches in Ireland and Britain.

I earnestly pray that the bishops and priests of Ireland and Britain take seriously the reality of the devil in our countries, and that they follow the example of Cdl. Sandoval Íñiguez, Abp. Cabrero, and the brave Mexican priests. In the meantime, let us follow Pope Francis' recommendation in fighting the devil and pray the Most Holy Rosary:

Mary accompanies us, struggles with us, sustains Christians in their fight against the forces of evil. Prayer with Mary, especially the Rosary — but listen carefully: the Rosary. Do you pray the Rosary every day? But I'm not sure you do. [The people shout "Yes!"] Really? Well, prayer with Mary, especially the Rosary, has this "suffering" dimension, that is of struggle, a sustaining prayer in the battle against the evil one and his accomplices. The Rosary also sustains us in the battle.

Deacon Nick Donnelly is the author of Who Is the Devil? What Pope Francis Says, published by the Catholic Truth Society. This article draws on work article originally published in Catholic Voice Ireland. Follow Deacon Nick on Twitter: @ProtectthePope

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