THE Church of Scotland is to recognise that exorcisms can be effective in delivering people from demonic possession.

The Kirk will stop short of creating an official rite of exorcism, or a set liturgy, however, believing that would “do more harm than good and create unwarranted publicity and demand”.

Instead, ministers should use “prayer, blessing and the ministry of healing” to free unwanted demons. The Church is also to talk to psychiatrists and others in the medical profession about commissioning research on the effectiveness of exorcisms, known as “deliverance ministry”.

The recommendations come in a report by a study group on deliverance to be debated at the Church’s General Assembly in Edinburgh in May. The group found that more than two thirds of Church of Scotland ministers “believe supernatural forces of evil exist today”. Nearly two thirds had been approached by someone asking for help because they believed that they or their home was affected by a demon.

The report says: “Some take the view that demons exist as an objective reality and can possess or influence people. Demons should be cast out by the power of Christ given to the Church.”

But it adds: “Others take the opposite view, namely that demons and Satan have no objective reality, and that those who believe themselves to be under supernatural power are deluded and should be referred to medical experts.”

The report recommends a “cautious approach” with regard to supernatural evil. It advises that even where someone approaches a minister believing themselves to be possessed, “it is seriously unlikely that will be the case”.

Where a homeowner seeks help from the Church of Scotland to exorcise a poltergeist, the report recommends that the minister say the prayers for blessing of a home in the Church’s prayer book Common Order.

The Church surveyed more than 1,000 parish ministers and hospital, mental health and prison chaplains. Nine out of ten prison chaplains had been approached for help by someone believing themselves to be possessed, compared with seven out of ten mental health chaplains and six out of ten parish ministers.

One minister described how he dealt with the manifestation of a “demonic spirit” by sitting on the afflicted person, ignoring the blasphemies, and reading the gospels while a friend prayed the Holy Spirit in and the demons out.

Another minister, a part-time chaplain in a psychiatric hospital, said: “I encounter a great many people who believe themselves possessed. For many this is a symptom of their illness but the difficulty from a chaplain’s point of view is knowing what is the right course of action to follow.”

Exorcisms are carried out in the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church and the Scottish Episcopal Church but are rare and only the Catholic Church has a specific rite. In the Catholic and Anglican churches, only authorised exorcists can perform them, and then only with the permission of the diocesan bishop.

Historically, the report says, evangelical churches regarded exorcists as “vulgar magicians” but the charismatic renewal movement of the last century had led to a resurgence in the practice. Leading charismatics, such as America’s John Wimber, who died in 1997, have claimed that anything from addiction to masturbation and depression could be symptoms of demon possession.

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