Exorcism and deliverance, though related, differ in authority and purpose. In The Liber Christo Method: A Field Manual for Spiritual Combat, Jesse Romero and Dan Schneider explain that exorcism is a formal act of the Church performed by a priest with episcopal permission, while deliverance prayers are minor forms that seek relief from demonic affliction. They emphasize that true authority over demons flows from one’s God-given office—not personal initiative—and acting outside that authority can invite spiritual danger.
What is exorcism? Is that the same as deliverance?
According to the Catechism: “Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church” (CCC 1673). Thus, as explained in The Liber Christo Method: A Field Manual for Spiritual Combat, exorcism is “the expelling of evil spirits in cases of possession and obsession according to the rite prescribed in the Roman ritual, and presently performed by a priest with the permission of his bishop.” Exorcism, moreover, can be “major (with use of the Solemn Rite of the Church) or minor (deliverance prayers, prayer of minor exorcism using various rites and not requiring permission of the local Ordinary).” This liturgical action is “the Church’s formal response on behalf of the energumen. . . whereby the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that the person be protected from the evil one and withdrawn from his domination.”
What is Deliverance?
Deliverance is a broader term and is related to exorcism, referring to “prayers of minor exorcism, typically in the deprecatory form, which address primarily the affliction, its effects, and entreat the Lord, His angels, His saints, the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Virgin Mary, etc. to intervene and to bring relief to the penitent/energumen suffering affliction.” This is significant in that many lay practitioners have blurred the distinction between exorcism and deliverance and who, while claiming to do “deliverance from evil spirits,” are, in effect, performing minor exorcism without the requisite authority (to wit, “through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church” as per CCC 1673). Unless one has the proper authority over the person, place, or object, he should not bind any demons.
Why can’t I just take authority in the name of Jesus and drive out demons?
A common mistake today among practitioners in the field of deliverance is to equate (or collapse, actually) power and authority. These are two different things. Power is the ability to effect change, and authority is the right to adjure or command another. The right to command, moreover, follows the right to bless, which is based on office. For example, we read in the Book of Blessings: “The ministry of blessing involves a particular exercise of the priesthood of Christ and [is exercised] in keeping with the place and office within the people of God belonging to each person.” The Book of Blessings further explains that “laypersons exercise this ministry [of blessing] in virtue of their office,” citing as an example “parents on behalf of their children” (emphasis mine). Elsewhere, the document lists those individuals in the Old Testament who administered an office from which they blessed (or prayed over) others: “patriarchs, kings, priests, Levites, and parents—by allowing them to offer blessings in praise of His name and to invoke His name.” Thus, those who had the right to bless held an office, either patriarchal or priestly.
The Right to Command and the Right to Bless
The right to command follows the right to bless. Baptism does not give you the right to drive out every demon. Baptism removes original sin and places supernatural grace in the soul, by which God recreates you as is child and member of the Church. The right to bless (and also command) flows from that orientation towards the Church, as well as natural law. As Father Chad Ripperger states with regard to lay people, “spouses . . . by virtue of the marital contract . . . have right over each other’s bodies by virtue of the conceding of those rights to each other on the day of their marriage. For this reason, wives may command the demons to leave their husbands’ bodies and the husbands, their wive’s bodies. For the husband, it is a twofold authority, the one as the head of household and the other by virtue of the rights over his wife’s body.” Since by natural law, everyone has the right of self-determination, you can command the demon to leave you or your temporal goods, and husbands over wives, wives over their husbands’ bodies, parents over children, etc. But to “take” authority and command demons outside of what the Church has delimited can be dangerous.
Rather than “taking” authority (which is common, Protestant language), you assert what is yours by right given through natural or divine law (i.e., your office within the Church) by God the Father. The two ends of an authority-based-on-office are to provide and to protect. When we work within that structure, we are generally protected. When we step outside of that, we expose ourselves and our families to retaliation.
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This article is taken from a chapter in Spiritual Warfare Q&A by Jesse Romero and Dan Schneider which is available from TAN Books.
