This is Episode 130 of the A Catholic Life Podcast. In today’s episode I discuss Traditional Catholic Exorcisms: Preserving the Church’s Ancient Rite of Deliverance.

In the Gospels, Our Lord explicitly cast out demons and gave His apostles authority to do the same (cf. Mark 16:17). The Apostles use this power (cf. Mark 6:13), and in Acts, the Holy Ghost witnesses how St. Paul (16:18) and Philip the Deacon (8:7) continue this spiritual work.

The rite of exorcism, then, is a continuation of the ministry of Christ Himself. For centuries, the Church has safeguarded and exercised this sacred power in formal rites of exorcism, particularly through the traditional Roman Ritual (Rituale Romanum), the standard from 1614 until its Rite of Exorcism was replaced with a revised version in 1998.