Demand For Exorcisms Grows During The Pandemic, Says Indianapolis Priest

A Catholic priest in Central Indiana has been plenty busy this last year because of exorcisms.

Rev. Vince Lampert told WISH TV that before the pandemic started he used to get five to six phone calls a day from all around the world requesting exorcisms. Now, Lampert says he receives 10 to 12 calls a day.

Lampert is one of 125 Catholic priests in the U.S. who are trained exorcists, according to Catholic News. Most choose to remain anonymous, but the Indiana pastor is pretty open about his is experience in chasing out demons.

The priest says he's a trained skeptic and doesn't start splashing holy water on the possessed person after receiving a phone call. He has to make sure they're actually possessed first.

“I should be the last one to believe someone is dealing with the demonic,” Lampert said.

He first consults with the possessed person's local priest then has the person examined by a doctor to rule out any mental or physical medical issues. Lampert also has his own tests to make sure the person isn't faking. He'll use tap water on a possessed person instead of holy water, pull out religious items, and read from the Bible to see how they react.

According to the Catholic Church, there are four types of demonic activity: mental attacks called obsessions; physical attacks called vexations; locations or objects being haunted; and true demonic possessions.

Lampert said he does thousands of exorcisms a year, "but true cases of demonic possessions, maybe one a year.”

Photo: Getty Images

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