Why the Church of England Still Won't Talk About This Exorcism

From Totus Catholica

In March of 1974, The Exorcist opened in British cinemas, and within weeks people were knocking on parish doors across England asking to have demons cast out, doors belonging to a church that had banned exorcism for 365 years. The ban had been lifted only five years earlier. There was no licensed exorcist, no authorized rite, and no canon governing the practice. Seven months later, two ministers spent an entire night trying to cast forty demons out of a man named Michael Taylor. When the sun came up they said three remained. Ninety minutes after they sent him home, his wife Christine was dead. The safeguards had already been written down in 1614, in a Latin ritual that told the exorcist to rule out illness first, and Scripture had told this story even earlier: seven sons of a priest named Sceva tried an exorcism by formula in Acts 19 and were overpowered and stripped. In the Book of Tobit, it is the angel Raphael who binds the demon, never the man himself, because authority over evil spirits was never a personal power to wield. Two years after Christine Taylor's death, a Catholic bishop in Germany followed every rule on paper for Anneliese Michel, and she died anyway, because permission was never the safeguard. Continuing medical care was. This is the story of what the Church actually requires before it will ever let anyone attempt what The Exorcist made look easy. In this video: • Why the Church of England went 365 years without granting a single exorcism license • The all-night ritual that ended with Christine Taylor's death, and the five Church of England rules written because of it • The exact Canon (1172) and Catechism paragraph (1673) that say "physician first" • What Acts 19 and the Book of Tobit already taught about who actually holds authority over demons • Why a bishop's signed permission did not save Anneliese Michel, and what actually would have ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 The Exorcist (1974) and a Real-Life Death 0:33 365 Years Without a Licensed Exorcist 2:22 The All-Night Exorcism at Ossett 6:52 Archbishop Coggan's Five Rules (1975) 7:46 Canon 1172 and CCC 1673: Physician First 8:34 Acts 19: The Sons of Sceva 11:04 Anneliese Michel: When the Rule Was Followed 📖 SCRIPTURE REFERENCED • Acts 19: seven sons of a Jewish priest named Sceva attempt an exorcism by a formula they had overheard, and are overpowered, stripped, and wounded. • Luke 10:20: Christ warns the seventy-two, when they rejoice that spirits submit to them, to rejoice instead that their names are written in heaven. • Tobit: Tobias burns the fish's liver and heart, but it is the angel Raphael who binds the demon Asmodeus. The man obeys, the angel acts. ⛪ FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS & THE CATECHISM • Origen (3rd century), Against Celsus: Christians drive out demons "not by elaborate formulas or ritual expertise, but by the name of Jesus." • CCC 1673: before an exorcism, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the evil one and not an illness, since treating an illness, especially a psychological one, is the concern of medical science, physician first, not the priest. 📜 SOURCES & FURTHER READING • Canon 1172 (Code of Canon Law): no one may perform an exorcism without special and express permission from the local bishop, granted only to a priest of piety, knowledge, prudence, and integrity of life. • The Roman Ritual (1614): tells the exorcist to rule out illness first, and forbids treating a spirit's name and number as information to be gathered. • Archbishop Donald Coggan's five guidelines (Church of England General Synod, July 1975): medical collaboration, prayer and sacrament, minimum publicity, episcopal authorization, continuing pastoral care. • Historian Francis Young, the only full history of Anglican exorcism: "repealing a ban does not create a practice." • Church of England Canon 72 (1604 to 1969): banned exorcism without a bishop's license, and no license was ever granted in those 365 years. • Anneliese Michel (Bavaria, 1976): her bishop authorized 67 exorcisms over 10 months for a woman with diagnosed temporal lobe epilepsy and psychosis; she died of malnutrition, and both priests and her parents were convicted of negligent homicide in 1978. 🔗 EXPLORE MORE 🌍 Website: https://totuscatholica.org/ Rosary Guide: https://totuscatholica.org/rosary ✉️ Contact: https://totuscatholica.org/contact 🔍 Examination of Conscience: https://catholicexaminationofconscien... 📚 Free eBooks: https://buymeacoffee.com/totuscatholi... 👥 Become a Totus Insider: https://buymeacoffee.com/totuscatholi...