Interview with an exorcist: 'God always takes the first step'

Exorcisms are on the rise.

Of all the symptoms of America's decline, it's one of the least discussed. But it speaks volumes about our country's growing mental health crisis — and inexorable drift into darkness.

"One of the unique things about Christianity is that it's not about our search for God, it's about God's search for us."

As exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis for the last two decades, Father Vincent Lampert has seen it firsthand.

In that time, the number of exorcists in America has grown from about 12 to roughly 125. (There’s no official number, as many exorcists remain anonymous.) Lampert also belongs to the International Association of Exorcists, which comprises 905 priests from nearly 60 countries worldwide.

A growing darkness

When Lampert began, he averaged about 100 inquiries a year regarding possible demonic possessions. Since then, it has climbed to about 1,800.

He recounts some of his harrowing yet faith-bolstering experiences in his 2020 book "Exorcism: The Battle Against Satan and His Demons."

When Lampert took the time to speak to me just before Easter, we began our interview with a blessing. A reminder that, despite his unusual specialization, Lampert remains a parish priest at heart. "Being an exorcist gives me a good balance in rediscovering priesthood as a vocation," he tells me.

Thanks to the distortions of Hollywood, many people don't realize that exorcism is not just a “struggle against Satan that relies on the power of Jesus Christ and the authority of his Church.”

It is also itself a form of prayer and a "ministry of compassion." It's an active devotion to God designed to subvert the evil one’s mission to separate us from our creator.

In Lampert's words, his job is to show "the afflicted the face of God" through an “act of mercy that unleashes God’s love against the attacks of the devil, bringing healing and peace."

Exorcism as a rite is grounded in the Gospels, which offer instructions from Christ himself on how to expel demons, as well as in the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles. Lampert points especially to Mark, with its four accounts of demonic expulsion.

He differentiates between minor exorcisms — a prayer for deliverance, said by anyone — and major exorcisms — official liturgy performed only by priests, trained like Lampert, who have earned special permission.

As a successor to the apostles, the local bishop is the exorcist of his diocese. It’s up to him to “bestow this charism,” or spiritual gift, on a priest. The priest has to remain in his diocese, under the guidance of his bishop.

Fr. Lampert compares the parish priest to a primary care doctor, while an exorcist resembles a highly trained specialist whose services are needed much less often.

Under attack

The job is not without its risks.

“The devil certainly knows those who are working to defeat him,” he tells me in the interview. “Certainly, parish priests are on the front line of that. And then exorcists in the unique role that they play in the life of the church can also be up against really extra attacks by the devil because again he knows that exorcists are working to defeat his plan to bring people into the light of Christ, so he will try to trip us up.”

Exorcisms are free, a service to the world. People who pay for an exorcism, says Fr. Lampert, will likely need one after, even if they didn't before.

Lampert says that most people who contact him have already self-diagnosed themselves or their loved ones, which often fuels hostility if Lampert determines that they are not afflicted.

The afflicted aren’t only Catholics. It also includes people from every faith and religion, including those with no belief at all.

Lampert began his role as exorcist seemingly by fate, filling the role after the previous exorcist (coincidentally a childhood friend) died. The archbishop delivered the news without blinking: The young priest was headed to Rome to study the rite of exorcism.

He had concluded that Lampert had a suitable mindset for the role — an awareness of the ubiquity of evil combined with a healthy skepticism. Also key was that Lampert didn't want the job.

In their final visit before the archbishop died of cancer, the archbishop playfully apologized to Lampert for placing him in the role.

In Rome, Lampert studied under a veteran priest who wasted no time in throwing his charge into the deep end.

Lampert bemoans the rise of individualism packaged as freedom. He stresses that it is obedience that sets a person free; there is no freedom without God. As John writes, “To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God.”

Letting the light in

Adds Lampert: “I would say to people that the devil's like a cockroach. And if you go into a room where the light's off and you flip a light on and there's bugs in the room, they're going to scurry for every crack and crevice that they can find. And when the church in the ministry of exorcism turns the light of Christ on in the lives of these people who have been deceived by the evil one, then the devil, like a cockroach, is going to scurry back into the darkness.”

The first action for Catholics who believe they’re afflicted is to go to confession: “When we confess our sins, we place them in the hands of God, and once we have given them to God, the devil may no longer use them against us.”

But if that isn’t enough, it’s time for an exorcist, who becomes an instrument of God’s power.

“I think one of the unique things about Christianity is that it's not about our search for God, but it's about God's search for us. So, anytime the human person is lost, God always takes the first step. Think of Adam and Eve in the garden after they had sinned. God moves to the garden and says to Adam, 'Where are you?'”

Lampert is a man clearly devoted to this vocation. His easygoing charm and humor contrasts with the heaviness of our subject matter.

That said, he's quick to point out that the work can be “spiritually, mentally, and physically draining.” It demands a training regime: a total devotion to prayer, fasting, confession, and worship.

Recovery sometimes requires special measures. One of Lampert's first assignments took a year until the demon was finally cast out. People hearing this story often want to know what Lampert did next — celebrate mass? Do a holy hour?

Not quite. Lampert headed to the nearest Dairy Queen for a large chocolate shake.

"It was a very hot day here in Indiana," Lampert says. "It was crowded. And I said to myself, 'If these people knew where I just came from, I would be like Moses parting the Red Sea because they couldn't get away from me fast enough.'"