At a recent conference for exorcists, I was speaking about a difficult case we had in the past. At one point in the almost two-year exorcism, a personality came forward and said its name was Judas. I commanded to know whether it was a demon using the name or really the person of Judas who betrayed Jesus. He shouted, with a tinge of shame, that he was the human person. While some debate whether fallen souls can inhabit a possessed person, other exorcists have told me that they, too, have encountered Judas the fallen disciple. Although it is not an article of faith, the Bible gives one the impression that Judas is indeed in hell.
During the conference, I recalled how difficult it was to cast out Judas. Other high-ranking demons were exorcized more easily. It seemed that Judas was impervious to the Rite of Exorcism, holy water and just about everything else we tried. Finally, Mary herself came, according to the possessed person, and cast out Judas. Why were we having such difficulty with a lowly human being when we were able to cast out powerful demons in Jesus’ name?
One of the other participants said their team had the same problem with Judas. But they realized that Jesus gave to his disciples his authority to cast out demons but not to cast out fallen human beings. This made sense. We simply had no authority over Judas. Fortunately, the Mother of Jesus came and cast him out herself. She knew we needed the help!
At the conference, it was striking how similar were the experiences of exorcists in different places on this point and many others. We all found the commonality of our experiences to be very affirming. There is a concrete, objective demonic reality out there and we are all facing it.
Reprinted with permission of catholicexorcism.org.
Image credit: Giotto di Bondone, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
