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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Deliverance Prayers	Jim	Thursday, October 6, 2011
Question: In Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea's book "Interview with an Exorcist" he writes about the differences between exorcism and deliverance prayers. (on pages 94-95) He says "private prayer of deliverance can be done even if there is only a suspicion of a harmful demonic influence, to whatever degree and however weak it may be."..."Demonic spirits can "cling" to these as well and, thus, prevent healing, which is a primary aim of such spirits. Although our sin is forgiven, the demons want to prevent deep emotional and spiritual healing. Deliverance prayers can break the bonds of such spirits and bring about a greater freedom for us than if we did not have such prayers said." A priest told me that only certain priests are trained to say deliverance prayers and he had not been trained. He said Bishops decide if priests from their diocese will get trained in this and many Bishops refrain. If the Church wants to bee effective in helping people get away from evil spirits that "cling" onto people, then it does not make sense that a Bishop would purposely choose not to send priests to this. So, how does a person find out which priests offer deliverance prayers? How can they be contacted for an appointment? Fr. Jose believes in having deliverance prayers said over people by a good priest. I would assume that priests who went through this training believe in its worth and take that sort of thing seriously and those are the priests who should be made available to offer deliverance prayers. Unfortunately, there are a lot of priests that seem to be unknowlegable and not interested in these extremely important topics, which is puzzling and disappointing.
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r) Dear Jim: Your priest is mistaken. He is talking about the Rite of Exorcism. A formal exorcism upon a possessed person can only be performed by a priest with permission of his Bishop. Deliverance prayers, however, can be said by anyone. Priests should be saying simple deliverance prayers to those who need it and to come to them in the confessional or in their office. When I say deliverance prayers I'm talking about the sorts of prayers that are found in our Spiritual Warfare Catalog linked below. It is not wise, however, for a priest or a layman who are not trained to attempt Deliverance Counseling, that is, specifically trying to gain freedom for person beyond the general spiritual warfare prayers like those found in our Catalog. While there is training for priest who were appointed exorcist, there is little to no training for priest or layman in the area of deliverance. We have the only comprehensive training program for deliverance counselors and I am aware of anywhere in the world. It should be clarified that solemn exorcism, which may only be performed by a priest, is to seek the freedom from the devil of a possessed person. Deliverance, on the other hand, seeks to bring freedom to a person who is not possessed but who is troubled and afflicted by lesser forms of demonization. It is my hope that the first phase of the training program that we provide may be offered to priest during her seminary training. Every priest ought to be qualified as a First Responder. It is not necessary for every priest to be an exorcist or for every priest to be a deliverance counselor. But, by virtue of their ordination they should be trained in basic first aid, as it were, since it is likely that the priest will be the one first approached by people in need. If a priest has been trained to be a First Responder then he can be prepared to offer assistance to those who come to him with spiritual and demonic problems. After giving the initial assistance to the person in need the priest can then refer a person to a qualified deliverance counselor or to the diocese if possession is suspected. I agree with you that it is very disappointing that so many priests were not even touch the subject of the 10 foot pole. Oftentimes they are scared of this subject. There is no reason to be afraid. Fear often comes from ignorance of the subject. If priests were given the kind of basic training that I suggest they would most likely be less unduly fearful and more willing to help. As for trying to find a priest willing to do deliverance prayers there is no easy answer. Such information is mostly word-of-mouth. There are very few priest who do deliverance as a ministry, but she be fine individual priests who will prayer for you. Our agency, the St. Padre Pio Center for Deliverance Counseling, does help those who have lesser forms of demonization. We cannot do solemn exorcism because only a priest with permission of his Bishop can do that. We can counsel with a person and help them to do what is necessary to free themselves from demonic influence and to maintain that freedom in the future. There are no guarantees even with solemn exorcism, but we do all we can to help our clients live a better Christian life and to use the weapons of spiritual warfare that had been given to us by the Saints and the Church. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Deliverance Prayers

Jim

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Question:

In Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea's book "Interview with an Exorcist" he writes about the differences between exorcism and deliverance prayers. (on pages 94-95) He says "private prayer of deliverance can be done even if there is only a suspicion of a harmful demonic influence, to whatever degree and however weak it may be."..."Demonic spirits can "cling" to these as well and, thus, prevent healing, which is a primary aim of such spirits. Although our sin is forgiven, the demons want to prevent deep emotional and spiritual healing. Deliverance prayers can break the bonds of such spirits and bring about a greater freedom for us than if we did not have such prayers said."

A priest told me that only certain priests are trained to say deliverance prayers and he had not been trained. He said Bishops decide if priests from their diocese will get trained in this and many Bishops refrain. If the Church wants to bee effective in helping people get away from evil spirits that "cling" onto people, then it does not make sense that a Bishop would purposely choose not to send priests to this.

So, how does a person find out which priests offer deliverance prayers? How can they be contacted for an appointment? Fr. Jose believes in having deliverance prayers said over people by a good priest. I would assume that priests who went through this training believe in its worth and take that sort of thing seriously and those are the priests who should be made available to offer deliverance prayers. Unfortunately, there are a lot of priests that seem to be unknowlegable and not interested in these extremely important topics, which is puzzling and disappointing.

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r)

Dear Jim:

Your priest is mistaken. He is talking about the Rite of Exorcism. A formal exorcism upon a possessed person can only be performed by a priest with permission of his Bishop.

Deliverance prayers, however, can be said by anyone. Priests should be saying simple deliverance prayers to those who need it and to come to them in the confessional or in their office. When I say deliverance prayers I'm talking about the sorts of prayers that are found in our Spiritual Warfare Catalog linked below.

It is not wise, however, for a priest or a layman who are not trained to attempt Deliverance Counseling, that is, specifically trying to gain freedom for person beyond the general spiritual warfare prayers like those found in our Catalog.

While there is training for priest who were appointed exorcist, there is little to no training for priest or layman in the area of deliverance. We have the only comprehensive training program for deliverance counselors and I am aware of anywhere in the world.

It should be clarified that solemn exorcism, which may only be performed by a priest, is to seek the freedom from the devil of a possessed person. Deliverance, on the other hand, seeks to bring freedom to a person who is not possessed but who is troubled and afflicted by lesser forms of demonization.

It is my hope that the first phase of the training program that we provide may be offered to priest during her seminary training. Every priest ought to be qualified as a First Responder. It is not necessary for every priest to be an exorcist or for every priest to be a deliverance counselor. But, by virtue of their ordination they should be trained in basic first aid, as it were, since it is likely that the priest will be the one first approached by people in need.

If a priest has been trained to be a First Responder then he can be prepared to offer assistance to those who come to him with spiritual and demonic problems. After giving the initial assistance to the person in need the priest can then refer a person to a qualified deliverance counselor or to the diocese if possession is suspected.

I agree with you that it is very disappointing that so many priests were not even touch the subject of the 10 foot pole. Oftentimes they are scared of this subject. There is no reason to be afraid. Fear often comes from ignorance of the subject. If priests were given the kind of basic training that I suggest they would most likely be less unduly fearful and more willing to help.

As for trying to find a priest willing to do deliverance prayers there is no easy answer. Such information is mostly word-of-mouth. There are very few priest who do deliverance as a ministry, but she be fine individual priests who will prayer for you.

Our agency, the St. Padre Pio Center for Deliverance Counseling, does help those who have lesser forms of demonization. We cannot do solemn exorcism because only a priest with permission of his Bishop can do that. We can counsel with a person and help them to do what is necessary to free themselves from demonic influence and to maintain that freedom in the future. There are no guarantees even with solemn exorcism, but we do all we can to help our clients live a better Christian life and to use the weapons of spiritual warfare that had been given to us by the Saints and the Church.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.