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Americans Across The Country Now Have Directions On How To Perform Exorcisms

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Joshua Gill Religion Reporter
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U.S. Bishops have released the Roman Catholic ritual “rite of exorcism” in English for the first time along with a new book to help lay people fight Satan.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced the newest edition of the rite of exorcism has been translated from Latin in the first English edition of “Exorcisms and Related Supplications,” according to the Catholic News Service. U.S. Catholic church leaders have long-awaited an English translation since the original Latin version was updated in 1999, according to Aleteia.

“Given that there’s less facility in Latin than there used to be, even among priests, it opens the door to more priests to do this. Until now, not only did the priest have to be wise and holy, but he also had to have strong facility in Latin,” Father Andrew Menke, executive director of the USCCB’s divine worship secretariat, told the Catholic News Serivce.

The new translation will make it easier for bishops to find a priest to help administer exorcisms, given that many priests no longer have a clear enough grasp of Latin, Menke told the Catholic news agency. “Exorcisms and Related Supplications” will be available to bishops, though bishops may distribute the material to exorcists, other clergy, seminary professors, and other scholars at their discretion, according to Crux Now.

A separate book, “Prayers Against the Powers of Darkness,” originally intended to be an appendix to “Exorcisms and Related Supplications,'” will be available to all people as a resource to help them fight “the infernal enemy,” according to the book’s description.

The book “is a powerful treasury of prayers of praise and supplication to Almighty God and prayers invoking the intercession of the saints,” the description notes. The prayers included in the book are also used by exorcists in the course of their ministry.

Catholic doctrine forbids anyone but a priest with the permission of his bishop from performing the official rite of exorcism but allows the laity to perform “general exorcism prayers” or “prayer of deliverance,” invoking God to help them against whatever satanic darkness assails them or others. “Prayers Against the Powers of Darkness” is meant to be another tool of meditative prayer for Catholic lay people to use in spiritual warfare.

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