SACBC Exorcism Workshop Led by Bishop Edward Risi

“The greatest sin is that people have lost a sense of sin… There is going to be a greater need for exorcisms in the near future,” said some of the priest participants at the SACBC Exorcism Workshop at the Lumko Institute, Benoni, in the Archdiocese of Johannesburg.

Full Report by SACBC 

The workshop on exorcism was led by Bishop Edward Risi, the Chairperson of the Department for Christian Formation, Liturgy, and Culture.

Bishop Risi welcomed participants from various dioceses of the conference, starting the programme with a presentation on angelology. The second day of the workshop had four sessions dealing with; a journey through the rite of exorcism by Bishop Robert Mphiwe; steps to take before an exorcism by Fr Graham Bower; when not to resort to the rite of exorcism, also by Fr Bower; open discussion and questions, and lastly, circumstances which open a person to possession.

On the third day, priests shared their experiences. Among other things, it was noted by some priests that there are not enough exorcists and some dioceses don’t even have one. The importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in deliverance and exorcism ministry was also mentioned in that there is a lot of healing that takes place in this sacrament. It was noted that the Sacrament of Reconciliation has to be part of the whole ministry of deliverance and exorcism.

One participant said sometimes all it takes is Confession to deliver a person but people seem to have lost the sense of sin. “The greatest sin is that people have lost a sense of sin,” said the priest.

A priest advised that when people come forward with issues, it is good to listen carefully to their stories to detect bondages in their lives. This was mentioned partly because one participant had said that some priests don’t investigate problems of this nature to understand what the problem is. “Sometimes it’s something that needs only prayers of deliverance.”

The attending priests were reminded that they are in the ministry of the Church and it is God who heals in the Church and to remember that they need the authority of their bishop and proper preparation to perform exorcisms. The issue of the importance of the bishops and their support was raised several times. It was pointed out that bishops must properly appoint priests and equip them. Participants noted the need for support groups for the ministry.

This session on the second day included watching an interview of Fr Vincent Lampert, the designated exorcist of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis. The interview touched on areas such as how people become possessed, perfect possession, multiple demons, and demonic oppression being a ‘gift of God’. In the interview Fr Lampert noted that the devil typically attacks in four stages: first through deception, then division, followed by diversion – or attempts to substitute something for God – and finally discouragement or despair.

The issue of ubungoma was also raised in the discussions before and after watching the interview, with one priest saying the question of ubungoma is a worrying one because there are even children as young as 6 years being made to believe they must become izangoma. Also, in the discussion post-interview, it was observed that it is important to know the different kinds of occult groups and how they practice because there are groups that disguise themselves behind ”good“ religious practices. Also present at the workshop was the Bishop of Tzaneen, Bishop Joao Rodrigues.

Full report: https://sacbc.org.za/there-is-going-to-be-a-lot-of-need-for-exorcisms-in-the-near-future/