BJ asks: “Have you ever heard of the Order of Exorcists? They have a website where they allow people to submit a form to request an investigation and possible exorcism. They say they’re not affiliated with the Catholic Church but clergy and bishops are working with them because of the demand for exorcisms? Is this possible?”

Absolutely not. Exorcism is a serious matter. Even though the need for these services has reached crisis proportions, the last thing a Catholic priest or bishop would do is resort to practices outside the realm of authority of the Church Jesus founded from which they derive the power to exorcise demons.

For those who have never heard of it, the Order of Exorcists was founded by so-called “Archbishop” Ron Feyl who claims to have received his episcopal orders in 1979 from Archbishop Gregory Michael David Voris “who adheres to the faith of the Seven Ecumenical Councils and the Three Ecumenical Creeds.” In other words, these Archbishops are not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.

To his credit, Feyl does state clearly on the website that his order is independent of the Vatican and is “an autonomous and independent branch of the Catholic faith which derives from the ancient Old Roman Catholic Church of the 12th Century.”

There is no such thing as an “independent branch” of the Catholic Church. But many people don’t know this so when he claims to have many priests, seminarians, paranormal investigators and bishops “of many jurisdictions from around the world” working with him on these cases, they think it must be legitimate.

Feyl also has a partner in the Order, a woman who goes by the name of the Rev. Mother Susan OSH (which stands for Order of St. Hilda). She claims to have a Ph.D. in physics and a Doctor of Divinity from Raphael University and has run paranormal experiments on “auras” and “Ghostly Electric Field Disturbances.”

Again, unless one looks into the background of these two, their website has enough Catholic-sounding language and imagery to convince the vulnerable that even though they’re not approved by the Vatican they’re still “Catholic” enough to be trusted. Especially when the site says things like, “We believe it’s important that you have a ‘calling’ from God to do this type of ministry . . .”

As a result, they click on a large red box that reads:

Do you believe you are suffering from a demonic possession, poltergeist, or personal haunting? Are you at that point where you find yourself in utter turmoil and emotional devastation? After you have seen a physician and had a thorough medical and psychological exam and have been given a clean bill of health but still have symptoms of demonic possession, and say to yourself, “What do I do next?”

The Order of Exorcists is a group of clergy and exorcist investigators with many years of real experience in dealing with the demonic, we may be able to help. 

Readers are then invited to click the “Contact Us” button.

The site explains that doing so will “start the process” of contacting members of the team in their area who will form an “Investigation and Assessment Team” to handle the case. A member of the team will contact the person and collect documentation including medical and psychological reports. A clergy member of the team will review the evidence and submit it to the “Chief Exorcist” who will then assign a priest if it is deemed necessary.

In an age when the shortage of exorcists is making headlines even in secular news outlets, this promise of a speedy response and rapid help can be very enticing.

However, people need to be warned that exorcism is never to be taken lightly. It deals with confronting a spiritual being whose power and malevolence is beyond human comprehension. Only Jesus Christ has the power to vanquish demons. It is always advisable to seek exorcism from those who have received His power through the Sacrament of Holy Orders – a Sacrament only given to those who are in the line of succession of the pope Our Lord appointed – St. Peter.

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