A History of Exorcism in Catholic Christianity

Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic

by Francis Young

This book traces the development of exorcism in Catholic Christianity from the fourth century to the present day, and seeks to explain why exorcism is still so much in demand. This is the first work in English to trace the development of the liturgy, practice and authorisation of exorcisms in Latin Christianity. The rite of exorcism, and the claim by Roman Catholic priests to be able to drive demons from the possessed, remains an enduring source of popular fascination, but the origins and history of this controversial rite have been little explored. Arguing that belief in the need for exorcism typically re-emerges at periods of crisis for the church, Francis Young explores the shifting boundaries between authorised exorcisms and unauthorised magic throughout Christian history, from Augustine of Hippo to Pope Francis. This book offers the historical background to – and suggests reasons for – the current resurgence of exorcism in the global Catholic Church.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Religion

288 pages, Paperback

Published April 22, 2018

Reviews

[Landon Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating chronicle of the practice of exorcism within the western, Latin branch of the church. The focus is the Roman Catholic Church, and the book details how the actual ritual of exorcism developed from the early church fathers to the twenty first century. Lots of Latin terms, phrases, and sentences - most of which are translated. Some of the comparisons between rites and rituals get a bit dense, but the book is well written and informative.

[Robert Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been on a quest lately to understand Catholic exorcism at a deeper level, but this book fills a void by addressing a subject absent from most of the other books I’ve read. Typical books on the subject are either skeptical works that seek to debunk the practice, academic works discussing exorcism from a theological perspective, case studies of particular exorcisms, or memoirs of the exorcists. This is the first and so far only book I’ve read that turns an academic lens on the history of the rite of exorcism. The closest I’ve ever come to reading something along these lines in the past were the early chapters of Henri Ellenberger’s Discovery of the Unconscious which traced the history of dynamic psychology, in part, through its development in parallel with religious practices including exorcism. But what Francis Young has done here is to trace the development of exorcism itself from early Church history to modernity.

It should be mentioned from the start that this book does not set out to endorse nor to debunk the legitimacy of exorcism as a spiritual practice. It does discuss the beliefs and opinions of believers and skeptics alike to the extent that they’re necessary to understand how the practice developed over time, but it doesn’t take either perspective, treating the subject simply as a practice that exists and letting the reader come to his own conclusions on the supernatural claims. Nor is this a complete history of all forms of exorcistic practice. Again though it alludes to some variants, the book’s focus specifically is on the Catholic Church.

I suspect many people who search for the word “exorcism” when shopping for books might be disappointed to find that this book absolutely refuses to sensationalize anything. In fact, though it’s intended for general audiences and the reader needn’t be either a professional historian or fluent in Ecclesial Latin to make sense of it, it’s nevertheless written in a formal academic tone and presents such great density of information that readers looking for something light and casual might find it a struggle to get through. But for my money, that’s actually the book’s advantage because it means the author gave the subject its intellectual due.

The book picks up the narrative in the fourth century and continues through modernity, but with particular emphases on the past rather than the present. Indeed, I found myself wishing the book’s final chapter (“The Return of Exorcism”) dealing with developments following the Second Vatican Council had gone into some greater detail. Though I don’t take issue with anything the author said—for instance, I do agree that much of the popular resurgence of interest in exorcisms began with William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel The Exorcist and William Friedkin’s 1973 film adaptation of the same and has continued in large part due to sensationalized stories of exorcisms from Hollywood and horror literature. However, while the book does I think present a pretty good bird’s eye view of the subject and hits the most important parts of post-Vatican II liturgical reform, I think it misses the impact of Internet and social media and much of the nuance in the current debate even among Catholic clergy regarding the current state of the Rite.

Similarly, I found myself wishing the book took up the narrative some centuries earlier. While the fourth century seems like a logical starting place in terms of the Church’s beginning to formalize the rite of exorcism, coverage of the practice within the first 300 years of Church history (indeed, drawing connections all the way back to Scripture itself) is somewhat lacking, as is the broader global context of exorcistic rituals in other or pre-Christian religions. Obviously those are not the focus of this book so the omission is understandable, but I would argue that an extra chapter on the topic could have helped to situate the book’s actual subject in a useful way.

But despite wishing for a bit more on the subject, as I always seem to do whenever I pick up a book on exorcism, I nevertheless highly recommend this for anyone looking for an academic and historical treatment of a subject that is too often relegated to sensationalistic gossip rags and dime novels despite a long and rich history that developed in parallel with Church history more generally.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating study of a subject often neglected by academics. Since the supernatural is always suspect, few countenance the idea that exorcism is worth studying. The history of the phenomenon, however, is inherently interesting. Young limits himself to the Catholic tradition, which is the one familiar to many in the western world due to the movie, The Exorcist. In fact, the rite of exorcism has changed over the centuries and had, as this book shows, almost died out before reviving last century. The movie may have been one of the reasons for this revival of interest.

Probably a little technical from the point of view of readers not interested in dates or the development of manuscripts, the book is eminently readable and informative. Young does not address the question of the reality of demons since the book is concerned with the rite of exorcism, not the nature or reality of demons. Related topics such as magic and prayer, and their difference from exorcism, are also topics of discussion.

Treated in a chronological way, the book covers, in broad spans, how the Church considered demonic possession and what rites—eventually codified as books that became known as the Roman Ritual—were used to expel demons. Apart from occasional periods of excess, the Catholic Church has been generally reluctant to use exorcism, but it continues to exist.

Terribly expensive for those who like to buy books to refer back to them, this book would appeal to anyone curious about these topics and it handles them quite well. I wrote a little post on the book on my blog as well: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.

[Gianluca Palamidessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant and clear exposition of how exorcism was born, almost-faded and (today) returned at his original strenght in the history of Catholic Church (mostly).