Exorcism in the Catholic Church
According to the Vatican guidelines issued in 1999, “the person who claims to be possessed must be evaluated by doctors to rule out a mental or physical illness.” Most reported cases do not require an exorcism because twentieth-century Catholic officials regard genuine demonic possession as an extremely rare phenomenon that is easily confounded with natural mental disturbances. Despite that fact, every diocese is required to have at least one priest that is an exorcist, or is trained to perform exorcisms (17). As the demand for exorcisms has increased over the past few decades, the number of trained exorcists has also risen. In prior times, exorcists were kept fairly anonymous, and the performance of exorcisms remained a secret. Some exorcists attribute the rise in demand of exorcisms to the rise in drug abuse and violence, which leads to the suggestion that such things might work hand in hand. Many times a person just needs spiritual or medical help, especially if drugs or other addictions are present. The specially trained priest and medical professionals will be able to work together to address the patient, and be able to determine what type of illness the patient is suffering from. After the need of the person has been determined then the appropriate help will be met. In the circumstance of spiritual help, prayers may be offered, or the laying on of hands or a counseling session may be prescribed. The exorcist might not perform an exorcism if he does not know the person.
Vince Lampert
As a noted expert on exorcism, who is willing to be published in the media about his work, Father Lampert was questioned about the difference between exorcisms that are authorized by the local bishop, compared to fee based "private exorcists" that work independent of the church. Lampert has met with other exorcists in Rome during meetings with the International Association of Exorcists. When he was appointed as an exorcist in 2005, there were perhaps only 12 exorcists in the US. Today, there are more than 50 that he knows personally in the USA. As one of the noted authorities on exorcism, he was interviewed in documentary movie "The Rite of Exorcism: Myth, Mystery & Hope" along with other noted exorcists like Fr. Gabriele Amorth and Fr. José Antonio Fortea. His first exorcism case as documented in an episode during the 2013 season of the cable television network Syfy series "Paranormal Witness." When the Fox TV Show "The Exorcist" was released a Fox TV News crew did a two minute interview with the exorcist that is sought out for interviews from around the world for his commentary on the series. Father Lambert was quoted in an article by "The Atlantic" that as of October 2018 he had received 1,700 phone or email requests for exorcisms, the most he had ever in a year.