Jörg Müller is a Catholic priest and one of the few clergy in Germany who confesses to carrying out exorcisms. But what does the exorcism of demons that we know from horror films have to do with reality?
Earlier this week, the World Association of Exorcists (AIE) elected a new president (the star reported). In the future, the 53-year-old Czech priest Karel Orlita will lead the association, in which almost 900 exorcists and assistant exorcists are organized. But what exactly are these exorcisers doing in an increasingly enlightened world?
Jörg Müller is a psychotherapist, religious scholar and priest in the community of Freising near Munich – and he is one of the few clergy in Germany who publicly admits to carrying out exorcisms. In conversation with the star He explains what is true about the cliché of exorcism that we know from horror films, why most people need medical and not spiritual help, and why we Germans are at war with mysticism.
Mr. Müller, most people associate the term with exorcism what you see in horror films: tense people tied to bed, a priest with a raised cross talking to the possessed person, screaming at him – a fight between the clergyman and a demon. Which of these is actually true?
This is an exaggerated, theatrical representation that doesn’t happen like this. An exorcism is a ritualized liberation gebet, in which one tried, suspected demonic beings to drive out. It is often spoken in Latin, but usually in complete silence. Exorcisms are sometimes very boring and tedious.
What does an exorcism actually look like?
The person suspected of being possessed is sprinkled with holy water and a cross is held in front of him. Then a prayer is said and the command is given: “Go away, in the name of God!” This can take up to half an hour. But before all of this happens, it is first clarified whether there is a mental illness. Only if all medical examinations are inconclusive, but there are symptoms that suggest possession, is an exorcism even an option. Then I check whether there is any truth to the idea of obsession. But this happens so quietly and secretly that the patient doesn’t even notice it.
How exactly do you go about it?
I pray silently that the patient doesn’t know about this. If he is possessed, something is stirring now. Then I say I’m praying, but I don’t and wait to see what happens. I say I’m sprinkling holy water on the patient, but it’s not holy water. So I test whether the patient is lying to himself and to us or not. If he reacts when I’m bluffing, there’s no need for an exorcism – and that’s the case in most cases. Most people don’t need an exorcism, they need therapy.
“Detecting a demonic entity is difficult because there is no evidence”
Then how do you recognize an obsession?
During a possession, something always happens when I pray, bless the patient, or sprinkle holy water on him. The patients scream, curse, and mock me. Some of them speak in languages that they have never learned. But even if all of this is true, we must be careful. It is not proof that a demonic being actually entered the patient.
Dr. Jörg Müller was born in 1943 in Bernkastel-Kues on the Moselle. He is a professor of religion, psychotherapist and priest in the Pallotin community in Freising. In addition to his work as a clergyman, he writes books and performs on the country’s stages as a cabaret artist.
What are demons anyway?
There are a lot of priests today who no longer believe that Demon, the devil is a personal being. They tend to believe in a kind of dynamic of destruction in the soul. I don’t care at all whether the demon is a personal being or a dynamic like that. For me, the main question is how to help people who show symptoms that no one can categorize.
You are a trained psychotherapist. Doesn’t it contradict all science if there is no evidence for such things as possession or demons?
I can’t prove God either, but I believe in him. In the case of possible possession, I believe that after all medical examinations there is a residual chance that a demonic force may well be there. And then I pray. If this prayer actually liberates, it is proof enough for me. If several prayers do not help, the cause of the symptoms is probably psychological.
Are demonic beings supposed to live in people?
We clerics suspect that in very rare cases there may be demonic beings inside a person who are controlling them. But it is very difficult to recognize this because there is no evidence. One can only assume this based on the symptoms and the medically defined diagnosis.
Does that mean they treat people based on their beliefs?
No of course not. Doctors often send people to us when they don’t know what to do. This means that the patients have already been thoroughly medically examined. The situation is different for people who report without seeing a doctor. One came recently Woman to me, who claimed to be possessed. But with a few quick questions I determined: She is not possessed, but rather traumatized – she was abused. She reported seeing shadows and even feeling touched at night. This is the former wrongdoer, not a demon.
Abuse is a typical cause of later symptoms attributed to possession. Today we know that this is often a so-called dissociation. Fears split off from the psyche. Patients see grimaces or have to curse – all symptoms that were attributed to a demon just 30 years ago. But this woman is not possessed, she needs trauma therapy.
“The church is failing completely”
Are exorcisms even necessary when most cases can be attributed to mental illness?
According to the Freiburg Institute for the Paranormal, a small number of cases may fall into the field of demonology. This is where the service of the church would be useful. But she fails completely. We need a contact point for people who fall off the grid. But in Germany there is no officially commissioned exorcist. An assessment by a trained priest could help them quickly – in most cases medically.
What exactly is an obsession?
I’ll give you an example: Some time ago an IT technician from Switzerland came to me with symptoms that could really be attributed to an obsession. He spoke in languages he had never learned. His bed shook at night for no apparent reason. On religious subjects he was controversial, cursing as if he were touching fire. It passed all the tests I did. The medical examinations had no findings. That means: There was something there.
Demons, shaking beds – can you understand that many people think: This is all nonsense?
All of this is actually difficult to prove. We Germans are always so empirical and so enlightened that we have no connection to it MysWell, we’re at loggerheads with that. We are just too proud and haughty. We always think we know everything better. Sometimes believers are even laughed at here. What kind of intolerant reaction is this, laughing at religion? That’s a catastrophe.
Let’s assume that there really is such a thing as an obsession: Which people are particularly “at risk”?
In general, it is more likely to affect these over-adjusted people whose image of God is a punitive one. People who continue to suppress their needs, who have never learned to say “no”, who have always been easy-care and well-behaved. It is precisely these people who create a hole in their psyche that the demons can push into.
Why should a demon enter a human being?
A demon wants to destroy. The person and his environment. Often with the ruse of making a person particularly pious. So much so that it wears him down.
Exorcisms in US free churches, which present themselves as very pious, have a particularly dramatic effect. Recordings show hysterical crowds, some participants in such events collapsing or suffering seizures, while a priest fervently shouts prayer into the crowd. Are these even real exorcisms?
Such scenes are terrible. It may be that some of these priests perform an exorcism. But a diagnosis is completely unclear to the people who are listening. The violent reactions of these people are not evidence of possession; they could just as easily be psychotic. You would never exorcise like that – and especially not in public.