The Virtuous Use of Private Exorcism by Laypersons

There is some debate concerning whether it is permissible for laypersons to use imperative formulas to adjure demons to depart, particularly in the context of what has been termed "deliverance ministry." By examining the work of theologians and canonists from the sixteenth century to the present, this article argues that no ecclesiastical positive law categorically prohibits such actions which are known as "private exorcisms" but that there are requirements from divine law that ought to be considered for their morally right use.