“Many people evangelized by Catholic Charismatic Renewal soon become aware of their inner resistance and of unresolved issues. They come to see that there are spiritual bonds holding them captive and experience the difficulty or even an inability to free themselves from this burden. Charity inspired by the Holy Spirit gave rise to a desire within the Charismatic Renewal, right from the outset, to pray for the release of these men and women from their spiritual bondage and to help them with the inner struggle that was oppressing them. The light that comes from prayer, prudent discernment and experience have shown that in some of these cases the spiritual bondage that plagues people is due to the direct influence of the devil. It is precisely here that the ministry of deliverance belongs. This is a gift of the Holy Spirit present since the time of the early Church.
Deliverance ministry, although it differs sharply from major (or
public) exorcism reserved to a bishop and the priests appointed by him and based
on the appropriate ritual brings about an understanding of the immense healing
and liberating power that emanates from the person of Jesus, Son of God, in
whose name the deliverance is invoked. It is also a comforting rediscovery of
the richness of our Baptism as it makes each of the faithful a member of the
body of Christ, a sharer, to some extent, in the divine prerogatives of Christ
the Head. Deliverance ministry, in this respect, helps to highlight the
important role that the lay faithful can and must play in evangelization, in
the maternal mission of the Church to heal the wounds of humanity and in
spreading God's Kingdom everywhere and in every social sphere. The mission of
the seventy-two disciples who were made partakers in Christ's power to cast out
demons (cf. Lk 10:17) prefigures the involvement of all the lay faithful
in preaching the Gospel and delivering
people from the spiritual interference by Satan that afflicts so many
souls.”
Excerpt from Cardinal Kevin Farrell
Prefect of the
Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”
2 Cor 2:11 ...so that Satan
will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.
The widespread abandonment of Christian faith and an
and increasing aggressive secularism have created a spiritual vacuum, which
many people have sought to fill through occult practices, spiritualism,
freemasonry, neo-pagan and New Age spiritual-ities, or even overt Satanism.
At the same time
these social changes have been occurring, there has been a marked silence among
Catholics regarding demons and their real influence in human life. Many priests
have been trained in forms of biblical criticism that interpreted the Gospel
accounts of demon-possession as simply a primitive way of speaking of mental
illness.
This silence has
created a situation where many Catholics, including priests, lack an understanding
of the devil and his strategies. (2 Corinthians 2:11)
Paradoxically, the
silence has also led to an unhealthy fear of the demonic realm,
especially among people not well educated in the faith. All these elements of
the contemporary situation have led to a vast unmet need for deliverance from
various kinds of spiritual bondage and oppression. It is tragic that Catholics
in some areas seek out help from spiritualists or shamans for relief from
demonic affliction because they do not believe the Church is able to help them
– or in some cases, they seek help from the Church and do not find it, since
they are in need of neither major exorcism nor professional medical
help, but simply deliverance. In some areas
Catholics turn instead to Pentecostal and independent charismatic ministries
for help. The lack of understanding of deliverance also hinders evangelization
when native peoples are more keenly aware of the power of evil spirits than
Catholic missionaries are in of the liberating power of the name of Jesus.
There is an urgent need for the Church to wake up to this grave situation.
At the heart of
this ecclesial renewal is the entry of the laity into their full role and
dignity as baptized members of the body of Christ, called to the perfection of
holiness and full participation in the mission of the Church. (Luke 10)
Over the years, as
deliverance ministry has matured, many unsound ideas and practices have been abandoned.
But there remains a need for guidelines, as well as prudent oversight and
discernment on the part of the Church’s pastors.
Deliverance
ministry in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is clearly meeting an immense
spiritual need in the contemporary world. Through it, many people have
experienced in a valid personal way, the truth that Jesus came to set captives
free. Just as deliverance was an essential part of evangelism in the early
Church, so it is an essential part of the new evangelization today. Despite the
various problems and challenges, St. Paul’s advice remains ever valid: ‘”Do not
quench the Spirit....but test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from
every form of evil” 1Thess. 5:19-22
A summary of the Introduction from the Book: Deliverance Ministry ICCRS
International Charismatic Renewal Services Doctrinal Commission