Vladyka Hilarion: exorcism is not the work of the laity

The chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, reminded the believers on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel that any cases allegedly related to obsession should be discussed with a priest - the initiative of the laity in such cases is unacceptable and extremely dangerous.

The reason for the discussion of this issue was a case that occurred in the Volgograd region. The parents of a ten-year-old boy considered him 'possessed' because their son 'behaves not so in the temple' - and tried to 'drive out demons' from the child on their own. At the same time, the abbess of the holy monastery, to the church of which the parents took their child, on the contrary, considers the boy's behavior to be completely adequate: he easily makes contact with the clergy, always willingly confesses and receives communion.
“There is a practice in the Church that is called exorcism, and in common parlance - a lecture, when a possessed person is brought to a priest, and he reads special prayers for casting out demons. But, firstly, this order is never performed on children. Secondly, it can be performed not even by every priest, but only by those who have received a blessing from the bishop for this. Third, and most importantly, we are not must confuse certain phenomena of the mental order with demonic possession. Possession is a very special phenomenon that requires a special approach, ”Vladyka Hilarion recalled.
The Volokolamsk Metropolitan, commenting on the incident with a ten-year-old boy, noted that his parents are clearly not familiar with the doctrine of the Orthodox Church, if they believe in various kinds of superstitions more than in the Lord God.