Cathal BarryWorld renowned exorcist Fr José Antonio Fortea Cucurull explains the tricks of the trade to
Cathal Barry
Exorcists tend to be decidedly tight lipped about their curious work.
Although, perhaps that’s for good reason.
Books such as The Exorcist and its 1973 on-screen adaptation can unfairly sensationalise ‘possession’ and its effects.
Exorcists are keen too not to draw any unwarranted attention to the ‘possessed’ for fear they would be unfairly made subjects of public curiosity.
Fr José Antonio Fortea Cucurull, however, has no qualms about speaking publically about his experience fighting evil ‘demons’ as one of Spain’s leading exorcists.
When it comes to selecting priests to become exorcists, the world renowned expert in demonology has particularly strong views.
Acknowledging the importance of a stable spiritual life for any exorcist, Fr Fortea insisted that common sense should be the priority for bishops in selecting priests to tackle demon spirits.
“I would suggest to a bishop to find a priest with common sense. If the priest has a very good spiritual life that is wonderful, it’s very important, but common sense is the first condition for somebody who has to discern what is demonic and what is not. Common sense cannot be learned from a book,” he told The Irish Catholic.
Prejudices
Noting that it was “important not to have prejudices, to be neutral and to try to be open to the possibility of demons doing something within a person”, Fr Fortea warned that potential exorcists should at the same time “not think that everything is demonical”.
“Most of the time what happens around us is just nature,” he said.
Fr Fortea is outspoken too about the situation in Ireland, urging Church leaders here to train more exorcists.
Given that every diocese is required by law to have an exorcist, there should be at least 26 in Ireland today. The bishop may also delegate the role to other priests if he so wishes.
Irish exorcists, however, tend to shun the limelight, preferring to conduct their business away from prying eyes.
Dublin based Vincentian priest Fr Pat Collins is perhaps the most prominent cleric in the field and has been called in to deal with many cases of demonic disturbance around the country.
But how does one become an exorcist in the first place?
Fr Fortea, himself an experienced exorcist and priest of the Diocese of Alcala de Henares in Madrid, said the best training he could suggest for a priest would be to observe as many exorcisms as possible, provided they were conducted by experienced exorcists.
“There are things you cannot be taught from a book,” he said, warning that trainee exorcists should witness between 10 and 20 exorcisms before conducting one themselves.
Fr Fortea’s own interest in demonology was peaked when, as a newly ordained priest, he was asked by his bishop to specialise in exorcism while undertaking further study.
Given his studies up to date had focused on Church history, the bishop’s request came as a surprise to the young Fr Fortea, who initially resisted. The bishop’s insistence, however, meant he had no choice.
Upon completion of his studies, which included spending time with famed Vatican exorcist Fr Gabriele Amorth who is reputed to have cleansed tens of thousands of demonic possessions, Fr Fortea was the only exorcist in Spain.
New cases began to flood in every day and Fr Fortea eventually came to “accept” that this type of work was his “destiny”.
“I never thought as a seminarian, before that or even in my first year as a priest that I would dedicate my life to this,” he said.
Starting out in his unique career, Fr Fortea insisted that he was never frightened. He had watched film’s like The Exorcist and so was “curious” to see what might happen when faced with the experience in real life.
Any “spectacular” preconceptions of 360 degree head spinning or levitation he may have had, however, were swiftly expelled after witnessing 13 exorcisms in Rome under Fr Amorth.
Fr Fortea said that while possessed people may become aggressive, shout, cry and tremble while the exorcism is taking place, he has not experienced “much more” than that.
He rejected too the notion that the possessed person may make predictions, but he has “never heard a true prophesy” in all his years of work. Exorcisms can take various forms, Fr Fortea explained.
He uses a combination of prayer, the invoking of saints and specific scriptural references in an attempt to “cast out” evil spirits from possessed souls.
Fr Fortea differentiated between “full possession” and “people who suffer from demonical influences”.
In Spain, he would typically see up to six new cases of “fully possessed” people annually. However, he could deal with more than 100 cases of “demonical influence” each year.
Full exorcism is not required in the case of demonical influence, Fr Fortea said, noting that he blesses these people and prays for them instead.
Such people, he noted, may begin to tremble or experience an oppressive feeling “but nothing more”.
“That is a demonical influence. It is not normal that I pray for somebody and they feel something inside their bodies.
“If that happens there is influence from the dark world inside that person and they need to pray, to change their lives, to approach God, and it will disappear,” he said.
Fr Fortea dedicates “hundreds”, if not “thousands” of hours to praying for such people each year “because it works”.
The amount of times he prayers varies from case to case but eventually he says, they “improve” or “become free”.
Turning to how people become possessed in the first place, Fr Fortea said that “most of the temptations in the world come from our heart”. “Even if demons didn’t exist, evil would still remain,” he added.
Noting that the “temptations from our world and the culture we live in. can lead us to evil”, Fr Forte insisted that “only a small number of temptations come from demons”.
What concerns the experienced exorcist, however, “is not so much the actions of the devil but the secularisation of society”.
“The protagonist of history is human beings. History is in the hands of man,” he warned.
Pope Francis and his early frequent references to the Devil
The Devil was a subject broached surprisingly frequently by Pope Francis in the early stages of his Pontificate.
The Pope’s preaching, it seemed, was much like his renewed approach to the papacy – unfamiliar.
In true Latin American style, Pope Francis departs from the preaching trends in the Church of the west which is at times silent about the Devil or reduces him to a mere metaphor.
Theology’s treatment of evil today, by and large, trivialises the Devil. However, it seems Pope Francis wants to call everyone back to face the reality of evil and educate them on how exactly to confront ‘Satan’.
Not a myth
One thing is certain. For this Pope, the Devil is not a myth, but a real person.
In one of Francis’ early morning homilies in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae where he lives, the Pope insisted that the Devil was responsible for the persecution of Christians in the world today.
The path of persecution “is a consequence of the hatred of the world and the prince of this hatred in the world,” he warned.
Insisting that dialogue “doesn’t work” with the Devil, Pope Francis said “the only defence is the word of God, humility and meekness”.
“These are the weapons that the prince of the world, the spirit of the world does not tolerate,” the Pope said, because he “makes proposals” for vanity, riches and worldly power.
Pope Francis also insisted that the Devil hates Christians because they “have been saved”.
Resurrection
With his death and resurrection, Christ “ransomed” Christians and all humanity from worldly power and the Devil’s grasp, the Pope said.
From his preaching it is clear Francis not only feels it is important to speak about the Devil, he believes it is essential to advise the faithful on how to combat such evil too.
Arming themselves with humility and meekness, according to the Pope, means Catholics can be confident that the power of God will always triumph over that of Satan, good over evil and love over hatred.
As the First Letter of St John states: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the Devil’s work” (1 John 3:8).
The Church’s teaching on evil
“Behind the disobedient voice of our first parents,” according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy”.
“Scripture and the Church’s tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called ‘Satan’ or the ‘Devil’,” the Church’s key teaching document says.
The Church teaches that God, in the beginning, created Satan as a good angel.
According to the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215: “The Devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own actions.”
Satan comes from the Hebrew word for ‘the opposer’, while Devil is derived from the Greek diabolos, ‘the slanderer’.
There are numerous references to Satan, otherwise known as the Devil, throughout the Scriptures.
We are told in Matthew 25: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels’.”
Darkness
Likewise, Peter writes: “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to Hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4).
The Gospel of John adds: “The one who does what is sinful is of the Devil, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the Devil’s work” (1 John 3:8).
Based on the teaching and example of Jesus in the Scriptures, the Church has always maintained that the Devil is a real creature, rather than a mythical personification of evil.
The Church’s teaching on the subject is clear from its liturgy. At baptism, those to be baptised are called upon to reject Satan, his works, and his empty promises. The Church too provides an official rite of exorcism, which presupposes the existence of the Devil.
The Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship in 1975 issued a document called Christian Faith and Demonology explaining the Church’s teaching on the subject. This document quotes Pope Paul VI’s teaching regarding the devil:
“He who refuses to recognise its existence, or whoever makes of it a principle in itself which does not have, like every creature, its origin in God, or who explains it as a pseudo-reality, a conceptual and imaginary personification of the unknown causes of our ills, departs from the integrity of biblical and ecclesiastical teaching.”
Neither exegetes nor theologians can neglect this caution, the document warns.
God, according to Church teaching, created the Devil as good, punished him for his sin and allows his present activity.
“It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity,” the Catechism asserts, adding, however that “in everything God works for the good with those who love Him”.