CAN A PROTESTANT BE AN EXORCIST?
QUESTION? / COMMENT!
I recently made the acquaintance, through an affiliation with a conservative political group I belong to, of a guy who says he is a pastor and says he has also been an exorcist for the past 15 years. He was Catholic but fell away to Protestantism. Is it possible to be a successful Protestant exorcist? Is it even safe for a Protestant to be an exorcist? (He claims to be very successful at it )
ANSWER! / COMMENT!
An Exorcist needs the Bishops mandate to perform the solemn rite of Exorcism (as per the document - “Guidelines for the Ministry of Exorcism: In the Light of the Current Ritual.” In the book of Acts 15:23-26 (NAB) This is the letter delivered by them: “The apostles and the presbyters, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings. Since we have heard that some of our number [who went out] without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, we have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
Luke 9:49-50 John answered, "Master, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow with us." But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him; for he that is not against you is for you."
CCC 838 Those who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church.” This CCC is a reference to protestants.
CCC 819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth" are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements." Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity." The name of ‘Jesus’ should drive everybody into unity with the Catholic Church.
To understand how God can use someone outside of the apostles to cast out a demon lets read CCC 1257 “God has bound salvation to the sacrament of baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.” So let me apply this to ‘casting out demons’. ‘God has bound the power to cast out demons to the apostles, but God is not bound to cast out demons only by the apostles (he can make exceptions - such as St Catherine of Sienna, St Teresa of Avila).’
A sacrament is more powerful in conferring grace than a sacramental. Exorcism is a sacramental (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 351). If God can confer grace outside of the sacrament, he can also confer grace outside of a sacramental.
*The Catholic Church has been entrusted with the fullness of faith and “is the all embracing means of salvation” (Decree on Ecumenism 3).
*Patrick Madrid – The Catholic Church owns and operates the sacrament of baptism.
*Protestant denominations as such, “though we believe them to be deficient in some respects” (ibid 3), moreover, “our separated brethren whether as individuals or communities are not blessed with that unity which Jesus Christ”(Ibid) proclaimed and prayed for (cf. John 17:20-26).
* All the Baptized have the “power” of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:8) but we don’t have authority over one another. The two types of spiritual authority in Scripture are a Religious Leader such as the High Priest, Levites, Aaronic Priesthood, Prophets, Apostles, Presbyters, Deacons over the congregation. The 2nd type of authority we find in the Scripture is the Fathers spiritual authority over his family.
We are called the “Church Militant.”A Catholic Priest is a commissioned officer of Christ in the Church Militant. A Catholic Priest prays with the full weight of the institutional Church behind him and the full authority of Christ the King. The Protestant Minister is like a mercenary, he farms himself out to whoever will hire him. He has some power because he is baptized and he prays in the name of “Jesus” but he has no institutional protection, he is on his own. Because demons submit to the authority of Christ, a Protestant Minister may be able to cast out lower level demons, but not the higher level demons. A Protestant minister's prayers will bring emotional relief but not full liberation because he does not possess the full authority of Christ, nor can he confer the sacraments which is what ultimately heals the soul. We proclaim this at Mass when we say pray right before we receive Holy Communion: “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed” (cf. Matt 8:8). Protestant denominations DO NOT have the sacrament of confession and holy communion which brings healing to the soul.
A Protestant Pastor is not an officer in the true Church, he is a hired mercenary that may have some level of success from reading Catholic sources & imitating Catholic practices and prayers.
Here is my analysis - the power of exorcism and deliverance was given to the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Whatever efficacy and power a protestant may have in deliverance ministry derives from the capital they have borrowed, received, plagiarized, stolen from Catholicism. I also believe that the Lord honors the piety and faith of certain protestants (cf. James 5:16), who may be invincibly ignorant about Catholicism, but that truly believe in the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, many Catholics have become secular, liberal, relativist and have little to no faith in Jesus Christ. God may overlook the protestants ignorance (cf. 1 Tim 1:13) that they lack the fullness of truth and can use their prayers (which is crypto or plagiarized Catholicism unbeknownst to them), to drive out an evil spirit temporarily.
The 2nd sentence of CCC 819 nails it: "Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church."
Protestant deliverance ministries cannot close the portal to the diabolical and bring healing to the soul, they may provide temporary relief (just like a Catholic charismatic prayer group can) but unless the spiritually afflicted is reconciled to the Father by receiving the sanctifying grace of the sacraments than the portal to the diabolical remains open. Sanctifying grace is what ultimately restores the spiritually afflicted to mental and spiritual health and to reconciliation with the Father. Protestants can't provide the sacramental grace necessary to close the portal to the diabolical and heal the soul.
A Catholic Priest has authority over you, a protestant Pastor does not have spiritual authority over a baptized Catholic. Finally, you have to be veeeeeeeeeeeery careful who you allow to lay hands over your head, this is a very serious action, the person laying hands on you can transfer his negative spiritual junk over to you by the laying on of hands.