00:00Amigos de Diario de las Américas, me encuentro con el reverendo Dylan Littlefield,
00:08quien nos hablará sobre cómo funcionan los exorcismos, por el estreno reciente de The Conjuring, The Last Rites.
00:14St. Michael, defend us, be our safeguard against the devil.
00:22What is the process the church follows to determine whatever an exorcise should take place?
00:28You know, the most important thing is that it's a holistic approach.
00:35It's not just a priest or a bishop or a deacon or anybody like that looking at one particular set of circumstances.
00:44Typically, there'll be a lot of involvement of mental health professionals.
00:49We use a lot of psychologists and therapists.
00:51And they'll look and make sure that that the whatever is I always I shy away from the word possession because it's it's so overused in media.
01:04But the thing that we do is we look at everything as one complete picture.
01:10So we don't isolate one particular set of symptoms or circumstances.
01:14We look to, you know, what's what is the person's history?
01:18Is the person religious?
01:20Has the person been treated for mental health issues before?
01:23Is there a medical issue that could be causing all of this?
01:26And so we go through that process to rule everything out before we really look at performing the rite of exorcism.
01:36By the power of our Lord Jesus Christ!
01:41What elements are essential for performing an exorcism?
01:46For example, we often see the St. Benedict's Medal being used in movies.
01:50So what other elements are important?
01:54Different customs, different countries, different regions, different cultures will have kind of some different things.
02:00The thing that is the St. Benedict's Medal is very important.
02:03He is a very significant figure in deliverance ministry in general.
02:09The thing that the thing that is important is having, you know, people around that are involved in the process that are spiritually prepared.
02:18There's holy water, incenses often used, things to simulate the senses, things that are symbolic.
02:25The typical cross that an exorcist will use is a very large, heavy metal St. Benedict's Cross.
02:33The custom is that the heavy metal cross is a, you know, by its token, is a significant defense.
02:45Why is it important for the demon to reveal its name during the exorcism?
02:50Because this is like the climax of the exorcism, right?
02:52It can be.
02:54The rite of exorcism itself is very fluid.
02:58A well-trained exorcist will have, you know, a lot of tools at his disposal.
03:04One of those tools is to call up, to have the demon or the darkness call itself out by name.
03:10But in a perfect world, that's not always going to happen.
03:15It can happen.
03:16It does happen.
03:17I've heard many stories of it happening.
03:19I've also heard many stories of it not happening, and with the same amount of success behind it.
03:28What qualifies a priest to be able to perform an exorcism?
03:32That is the best question.
03:37So it requires a priest to, first and foremost, to have the approval of his bishop.
03:42The second thing, and the most important thing, really, after that, is that the priests have a distinct calling to deliverance ministry.
03:54It's not a ministry for everyone, and it's not a ministry that every priest or deacon or bishop is called to.
04:03So it is a calling, just like any vocation.
04:07So after the bishop has appointed you and approved you as exorcist, then there's a lot of academic study involved.
04:15There are regular seminars on deliverance ministry.
04:18At one of the seminaries in Rome, there is a regular deliverance ministry.
04:22I don't want to say program, but it's a program to train exorcists.
04:27It's a very rigorous academic program they do, and there's continuing education for it as well.
04:34A lot of priests will do these seminars every few years.
04:39Eight people have experienced this.
04:42Eight people are not crazy.
04:43Do you think films like the Conjuring series play an important role in raising awareness that demons or the darkness exist and the exorcist seems unreal?
04:57I think so.
04:58The portrayal of an exorcism is oftentimes kind of exaggerated in the media.
05:05But I think that the reality is that, yeah, people do need to be aware that it's a very real thing.
05:14It seems ephemeral and maybe kind of spooky to some people, and I'm sure there's a lot of people that are skeptical.
05:23But the idea that exorcisms happen and need to happen, I think, yeah, I think the media and movies like The Conjuring are very helpful in raising that awareness.
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