Cathal BarryA world renowned exorcist has warned the Church in Ireland not to ignore the reality of evil in the world. In an interview with The Irish Catholic, Fr José Antonio Fortea Cucurull insisted that the presence of evil, through the work of the Devil and evil spirts known as ‘demons’, was real.
The Spanish priest noted, however, that “most of the temptations in the world come from our hearts”.
“Even if demons didn’t exist, evil would still remain,” he said.
Each of Ireland’s 26 dioceses are obliged by Canon Law to have an exorcist, while bishops may also delegate the role to other priests.
Although unable to confirm the presence of an exorcist in every diocese, a Church spokesperson told this newspaper that “every diocese would have access to one”.
“The dioceses are all very aware of what their requirements are and have experts available to them should the need arise.
“There would be a number of priests who dioceses would call on if they feel they need the expert advice of someone who is a specialist in exorcisms,” the spokesperson said.
Fr Fintan Monahan of Tuam confirmed to The Irish Catholic that the archdiocese did not have a resident exorcist.
“It’s a miniscule issue which rarely ever arises. It wouldn’t warrant having somebody trained in it. Most other dioceses would be in the very same situation as us,” the Diocesan Secretary said.
Urging the Church here to train more exorcists, Fr Fortea said it was essential that bishops selected priests with common sense to tackle demon spirits.
“I would suggest to bishops to find a priest with common sense. If the priest has a very good spiritual life that is wonderful, it’s very important, but common sense is the first condition for somebody who has to discern what is demonic and what is not. Common sense cannot be learned from a book,” he said.
Noting that it was “important not to have prejudices, to be neutral and to try to be open to the possibility of demons doing something within a person”, Fr Fortea warned that potential exorcists should at the same time “not think that everything is demonical”.
“Most of the time what happens around us is just nature,” he said.
