Bob Larsen meets with chief exorcist in Rome

Bob Larsen says he has performed over 6,000 exorcisms over the past 20 years. Here's an interesting profile that says the Protestant minister met with the Vatican's chief exorcist in Rome.

David Yonke writes in the Toledo Blade.

In December, Mr. Larson met at the Vatican with the Rev. Gabriele Amorth, the Catholic Church's foremost expert on exorcism. According to Mr. Larson, Father Amorth told him: "We are doing the same mission for our Lord Jesus Christ."

The Rev. James Bacik, Catholic theologian and pastor of Toledo's Corpus Christi University Parish, said "the biblical background for exorcism is Jesus, who functions as an exorcist, especially in the Gospel of Mark where he casts out unclean spirits and liberates people from the domination of demonic forces."

It is significant, Father Bacik added, that "Jesus is more powerful than any of the demons."

The Catholic Church recognizes two types of exorcism. One is performed at every baptism when the priest recognizes the power of Satan, anoints the person with oil, and prays for protection over the power of evil. The second is the kind that Mr. Larson typically conducts, casting evil spirits out of a person. But the person must first undergo physical and psychological tests before a priest will perform the rite of exorcism, Father Bacik said.

Mr. Larson said the influence of demons varies according to location, with some parts of the United States and certain countries having more demonic activity than others.

"I've never had a problem finding demons in the Pacific Northwest, for example, because it has been such a non-church, non-religious area. Demons are more free to operate," he said. "Ironically, the other place is the Bible Belt. The devil is where he's not expected to be. It's what happens when people have too much religion and not enough spirituality."

There is a finite number of demons in the world because God created a set number of angels, he said. The evil spirits are those who followed Lucifer when he rebelled against God and were cast out of heaven.

But demons are becoming more active, Mr. Larson said, as seen in the increased incidents of violence, drug abuse, sexual abuse, and criminal behavior among Americans today.

"There has been exponential growth of demonic activity today than when I started 30 years ago," he said. "It's rampant."