The ROC was first agreed upon in a separate document to organise and summarizes the practice and conditions of the exorcism ritual. The draft proposes to secure the possibility of performing the ceremony for bishops or priests who receive the blessing of the ruling bishops, and to exclude the possibility of outside observers observing the ceremony.
“The performer of the rite of exorcism can only be a bishop or priest who receives the blessing of the presiding bishop for it. The Church expects a high spiritual life from the person who practices the rite of exorcism. Neither the exorcist nor his hierarchs (priest of the monastery, etc.) should expect bribes to perform the ritual. The draft document states that the performer of the rank of exorcism must have sufficient spiritual experience and awareness to identify those who really need it.
The authors of the project were members of the Commission for the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church on theology and theological education. The reason for the creation of the project was the harassment of both those who performed the ceremony and those who attended the ceremony. The draft document was published on church portals for discussion and sent to the dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church for feedback. According to the Moscow Patriarchate’s website, comments on the draft document are collected by the Inter-Council Entity apparatus until October 30 this year.
How to exorcise demons according to the rules:
– Only a bishop or priest who receives the blessing of the presiding bishop can perform the ceremony. All this is free.
– Exorcism is only used in case of demonic possession. In order to distinguish mental disorders, clergy are advised to familiarize themselves with the basics of psychiatry.
– It is necessary to distinguish demon possession from alcohol, drug addiction and other sinful addictions.
– It is important to distinguish “holy fear” from demonic possession, when the possessor reacts painfully to contact with the cross, holy water and relics, this can also indicate a mental disorder.
“God allows demons to correct a person”
The Church accepts demon possession as a condition “permissible by God” for any reason, because without this condition, demon possession, like any other bodily or mental disorder, cannot be conferred upon a person.
“At the same time, according to the words of the Gas Monk Dorotheus: “God … wants to see us so well that we do not want what He has done with contempt”, the Church, a special prayer command, health from God to those possessed by an evil spirit and humbly betrays the fulfillment of the petition in the hands of God, ”says the text of the document.
There, he notes that possession does not imply greater sinfulness, since “God allows demonic possession to discern sins and correct a person.”
“Collective “reprimands” with the audience
The ROC states that the Church’s stance on mass is “very cautious”, due to abuses by those performing and participating in it.
“Abuse by perpetrators is often associated with an unauthorized method of execution, sometimes with selfish motives. In some cases, while performing the rite of exorcism, the patient is subjected to humiliation or unacceptable psychological violence. Such abuses include collective “reprimands” involving outside “audience”, as well as photo and video recording, followed by public distribution of recordings and photographs,” the project text states.
Separately, it is noted that the abuses of those who participated in the rites included hysterics. (“hysteria” note – a hysterical illness, clicking, shouting ”-“ Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language ”VI Dahl), that is, the modern Orthodox Church sees the phenomenon as “false property” and not as an obsession.
He notes that the abuses are not related to the “inferiority and archaism” of the ritual and that “this should be kept in mind”. Leaving a truly possessive person without appropriate spiritual help can lead to serious consequences for him, for example, to despair or even suicide.“.
History and modern practice of exorcism
The practice of exorcism (Greek ἐξορκισμός – “forbidden” or “to bind”), or the practice of exorcism, has existed since the founding of the Christian Church. The gospel reports cases of expulsion from humans by the evil spirits of Jesus Christ and his apostles. After Christ’s resurrection, he transferred the power to exorcise evil spirits to his Church: “In my name they will drive out demons” (Mark 16:17).
In connection with the ideas about the struggle of Christianity against the forces of darkness and “spirits of evil in the high places”, Hieromartyr Justin the Philosopher (2nd Century) wrote:
“Jesus … was born according to the will of God and the Father, for the sake of people who believed in him and for the extermination of demons. And now you can learn this from what is happening before your eyes. Many of your Christians have healed and are still healing many demonized people all over the world and in your city by calling in the name of Jesus Christ..
Also, in the Church from ancient times there was a tradition of liturgical prayer for the possessed – already in early Christian communities there was a special ministry of exorcism, whose task was to read prayers to the possessed. In particular, magical, forbidding prayers are an integral part of the baptismal rite.
Now the rite has a different degree of distribution. For example, in the Patriarchates of Alexandria (Africa) and Antioch (Middle East), the Greek Orthodox Church (Greece), the Polish Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church in America (USA and Canada), exorcism (except baptism) is not practiced. In other Churches, the liturgy is performed with restrictions – different prayers are read, the rank and family status of the clergy admitted to the liturgy is different.
Other beliefs and mass culture
Exorcism is common in other Christian denominations (Catholicism, Protestantism), as well as in Islam and Judaism. In Catholicism, for example, the demon, in addition to reciting prayers, is subject to aggressive attacks and demands to leave his possessed body. In Protestantism, the ceremony is approached more pragmatically and psychotherapy methods are used.
It is not demons and spirits that are expelled in Islam, but jinn that can enter a person’s body in an abandoned building, on the seashore or in the desert. Ritual is not required to actualize But he must be a Muslim who respects sharia law. In Judaism, there is a tradition to expel a dybbuk – the spirit of a criminal or evil who could not leave Earth and was forced to move to another person. The exile is performed by a tzaddik (right person) in the presence of a minyan (10 adult male Jews). This is accompanied by the blowing of the shofar (a woodwind instrument made of animal horn) and the reciting of prayers for the dead, as on Yom Kippur (Judgment Day).
The ceremony gained widespread fame and a host of misconceptions because of its portrayal in cinematography. The most famous paintings of exorcism are Wii (1967), The Exorcist (1973), The Six Demons of Emily Rose (2005), Paranormal Activity (2007) and Drag Me to Hell (2009).