Exorcism and religious intolerance
Diane Vera printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Tue Feb 01, 2011 at 08:46:33 AM EST
Exorcism and "spiritual warfare" are often accompanied by religious intolerance and attempts to impose theocracy -- at least in the context of the "New Apostolic Reformation," as has been pointed out many times, by Rachel Tabachnick, Bruce Wilson, and others, here on Talk To Action.

Question:  To what extent is this also true of Catholic exorcism?

Recently there's been a flurry of mass media attention to Catholic exorcism, due to the premiere of the movie The Rite, loosely based on the book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist by Matt Baglio.
The Catholic Church is much more restrained in its approach to demonology than Pentecostal, Charismatic, and new-Apostolic "deliverance ministries" typically are.  Whereas the latter tend to see demons, demons everywhere, Catholic exorcists make at least some attempt to distinguish "demonic" activity from mental illness and to recommend appropriate treatment for the latter.

However, at least one Catholic bishop has admitted that the recent Catholic exorcism trend has been influenced by the Charismatic movement.  According to the National Catholic Register story A Nation and Its Demons, Janu