Two-thirds of Ireland’s dioceses don’t have exorcists despite Vatican protocol

Only one-third of Irish dioceses have an exorcist despite the Vatican requiring each diocese to have at least one specially trained priest, researchers have discovered.

Out of Ireland’s 26 dioceses there are nine exorcists according to a group of European academics, fewer per diocese than other countries in their study.

However, the limited new research, which is ongoing, also found that many dioceses were “little competent” regarding information sought regarding exorcists and their ministry by the team.

All of Ireland’s dioceses were contacted. Nine confirmed the presence of an exorcist, nine didn’t have an exorcist, two refused to participate and six didn’t respond. The research covered England and Wales, Scotland, Italy and Ireland.

The team found that despite the early stage of research “it has been possible to determine some systemic-structural issues at European level”.

Speaking to The Irish Catholic, one of the researchers involved, Prof. Francesca Sbardella of the University of Bologna said: “In many occasions, the dioceses have appeared to be excessively fluid and little competent about the data and the information sought by our research staff.

“The relationship between the person in charge of a diocese, who is supposed to monitor and verify the exorcist’s activity, and the exorcist themselves seem to vary from case to case. For this reason, even the existence of an exorcist has been hardly verifiable among the data collected.”

The project is being taken on by researchers from GRIS (Research and Socioreligious Information Group), Pontificio Regina Apostolorum and the Department of History, Cultures, Civilisations in the University of Bologna.

One member of the research team, Giovanni Ferrari, told Catholic News Agency that the group is the “first in the world” to carry out the level of research on the ministry of exorcism in the Catholic Church they’re engaging in.

Italy reported the largest number of exorcists. Out of 226 dioceses, 160 responded. Overall, of those dioceses there are 283 official exorcists. There are 37 dioceses without official exorcists, five dioceses refused to participate and 11 didn’t respond.

In England and Wales there are 16 exorcists and 22 dioceses. While Scotland has fewer exorcists than the other regions in the study – in its eight dioceses there are three – it still has a higher percentage compared to Ireland per diocese.

Regarding the data around allegedly possessed people and their family, Prof. Sbardella said: “The family context around the persons who are considered possessed is almost impenetrable. This context remains in the background, but it actually orients the approach to the diocese.

“This research area should help us better understand not only the motivations of the allegedly possessed person but also the motivations of the diocese itself. In fact, the diocese takes action not only towards individual persons but also towards their family,” she added.

While exorcism ministry is largely secretive, with little known about it among the general public, the researchers hope to shed some light on the topic and collect data and statistics which currently, by and large, don’t exist.