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.
The Last Exorcism
During the exorcism, "Abalam" agrees to release Nell only if Marcus can remain silent for ten seconds. Each second, Nell breaks one of her fingers. After three, Marcus yells for Abalam to stop; Abalam asks Marcus if he wants a "blowing job". Marcus challenges that a demon would know the actual name of the sex act and concludes that Nell is not possessed, but a disturbed and ashamed girl. Nell anguishes over losing her virginity to a boy named Logan, which Louis again rejects. Marcus and the crew meet Logan, who explains that he is homosexual and the only contact he had with Nell was a brief conversation at Manley's house six months ago; the crew realizes Manley was lying about having not seen Nell. They return to the Sweetzer farmhouse, which they find empty and covered with numerous occult and countercultural symbols on its walls.