Exorcists continue to exist all over the world. There are no official figures, but in Spain there could be more than thirty and the person responsible for their appointment is the bishop of each diocese.
The theologian Luis Santamaria Note that a person must be “cautious, with training and experience to discern what evils may come from the devil or what They may simply have a psychiatric origin“.
There is even a guide to exorcisms from the Vatican itself. The symptoms to know if you are possessed go through “speak with many words in an unknown language or understand the one who speaks”, moving distant things, rejecting God or the Virgin Mary could confirm the presence of evil.
So yes, the exorcism can begin. According to this guide, the rite should begin with the holy water and several sentences. After them, the exorcist must place his hands on the face of the tormented person, it is said, so that the devil comes out of him.
At the same time you will be able to blow on your face and you will finish by showing a crucifix and making the sign of the cross. The guide offers several tips, such as leave on an empty stomach or not transform the rite into a spectacle or not perform it in front of the media.
“Make sure that the rite do not become a spectacle for those present. Under no circumstances should we leave space for the media…”, he specifies. According to experts, it is neither a therapy nor a cure, but “pray to God to tell him to free a person who is affected by the extraordinary action of the devil”, according to Santamaría.
