Exorcisms & Deliverance - Overview

Major exorcism requires bishop's permission Medical and psychiatric screening expected

Catholic rite

Major exorcism by bishop’s permission

The USCCB says the solemn rite may be performed only by a bishop or a priest given special and express permission.

Public file type

Named clergy and surviving source trails

This section tracks cases with identifiable priests, locations, diaries, church memory, or repeated public testimony.

Current named files

5 major case files

The public set now ranges from the 1840s Möttlingen file to present-day public ministry records.

Screening expectation

Medical and psychiatric review

Catholic guidance expects non-preternatural explanations to be considered before the major rite is used.

Primary-source file

Official Catholic guidance USCCB: Exorcism

Official explanation of the distinction between minor and major exorcism, episcopal permission, and screening expectations.

usccb.org Official diocesan profile Archdiocese of Indianapolis on Fr. Vincent Lampert

Archdiocesan reporting on one of the site’s named modern exorcist files and the screening process surrounding his ministry.

archindy.org Historic church memory Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Möttlingen: Gottliebin Dittus

Church summary preserving the 1841–1843 Möttlingen deliverance file and its continuing local memory.

kirche-moettlingen.de

What Catholic sources mean by exorcism

In Catholic usage, exorcism is not a horror-movie performance. It is a formal rite of prayer by which the Catholic Church asks for protection or liberation from demonic influence.^[1]

The USCCB explains that a major exorcism may be performed only by a bishop or by a priest with the special and express permission of the diocesan bishop, and only after serious discernment.^[1]

This section still centers on that Catholic framework, but it also includes a few older Christian deliverance files outside Roman Catholic practice when the public source record is unusually strong and historically influential.

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What Catholic practice requires before a major exorcism

The USCCB’s public guidance is cautious:

• medical examination is expected^[1]
• psychological or psychiatric evaluation is expected^[1]
• the exorcist is told not to attribute everything dramatic to demons^[1]

Catholic exorcism files are documented not only through dramatic narratives but also through screening, permission, and the surviving written record.

Exorcism cases usually survive through clergy notes, booklets, diocesan summaries, and later historical or journalistic reconstructions. These pages track both the ritual history and the source trail available to the public.

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What this section includes

This section is for cases where at least one of the following is true:

• there is a primary written record
• named clergy and a known location are involved
• documented diocesan authorization is part of the public file
• the case has had lasting historical influence

These pages identify what is clearly documented: that a rite was attempted, who authorized it, what sources survive, and how the case has been interpreted in later Catholic, Protestant, and historical discussion.

Many recent exorcists do speak publicly about ministry, but the better-known modern anecdotes are often anonymized. The number of named public records on this site is therefore smaller than the number of public talks.

This section also includes a small number of named public ministry records when a priest repeatedly identifies himself, his diocese, and his stories in interviews, podcasts, lectures, or official ministry pages.

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Files in This Section

File	Location / Year	Main documentation	Key open question
Fr. Chad Ripperger / Colorado	Colorado / public ministry 2012–present	Doloran/OSMM bio, Sensus lecture archive, and interview record	How to distinguish his large public teaching ministry from individually released diocesan case files
Fr. Dan Reehil / Nashville	Tennessee / public interviews 2023–present	Own ministry site, Nashville Catholic Radio, Fox, and major podcast interviews	How to weigh vivid public stories when the underlying diocesan files are not released
Gottliebin Dittus / Möttlingen	Württemberg, 1841–1843	Blumhardt’s own report, church memory, and the continuing Möttlingen/Bad Boll tradition	How to relate the pastoral, medical, and preternatural readings of the case
Robbie Mannheim / St. Louis	Missouri, 1949	Jesuit diary tradition and named clergy under archdiocesan permission	How later interpreters weigh the diary record, family setting, and possible medical factors
Fr. Vincent Lampert / Indianapolis	Indiana / public ministry since 2005	Archdiocesan priest listings, diocesan newspaper coverage, books, and interviews	How much of his public ministry can be documented at the level of complete individual case files

## Best first pages in this section

These are the cleanest first routes depending on whether you want an official diocesan ministry file, a diary-based historic case, or a public modern teaching record.

Start with the clearest diocesan modern file

Open the file. Vincent Lampert is the best first stop if you want named office, diocesan newspaper reporting, and repeated public explanation of the rite.

Start with the clearest diary-based historic file

Open the file. Robbie Mannheim is the main historical case if you want a surviving diary tradition and a well-known later cultural afterlife.

Start with the nineteenth-century Protestant deliverance file

Open the file. Gottliebin Dittus is the best first page if you want a long, named, pre-modern case that survives through one pastor’s written record and continuing local memory.

Start with the public-teaching route

Open the file. Chad Ripperger is the easiest entry if you want to examine how a modern exorcist case file is built mostly from repeated talks and ministry material rather than public diocesan dossiers.

Reference

1. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Exorcism.” Official explanation of the Catholic distinction between minor and major exorcism, the role of episcopal permission, and the expectation of medical and psychological screening. Available at: https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/sacraments-and-sacramentals/sacramentals-blessings/exorcism