EXORCIST, EXORCISTATE. — In the current practice of the Latin Church, an exorcist is one who has received the minor Order (v. ORDERS) of exorcistate, which confers the power to cast out demons, that is, to perform exorcisms (v.).
The word ἐξορκισμός designates one who performs exorcisms (cf. Acts 19:13; Flavius Josephus, *Antiquitates Judaicae*, 8.2.5). In the early days of the Church, every faithful Christian, almost as a charismatic gift, had the power to cast out demons (cf. Justin, *Apologia*, II.6.6; Irenaeus, *Adversus Haereses*, 96, 97; Tertullian, *Apologeticum*, 23). By the mid-2nd century, exorcists appear in Rome as a special class of the faithful (Pope Cornelius, *Epistle to Fabian of Antioch*, p. PL 3, 768), a fact attested by other documents as well. According to St. Paulinus of Nola, the martyr Felix, after serving as a lector, became an exorcist. The epitaph of Latinus Flavius, bishop of Brescia (d. late 2nd century), states that he served as an exorcist for twelve years. Peter, who suffered martyrdom with the priest Marcellinus (A.D. 302), is remembered as an exorcist by St. Damasus (*Martyrologium Hieronymianum*, p. 292); St. Martin of Tours was ordained an exorcist by St. Hilary, as reported by Sulpicius Severus (*Vita S. Martini*, ch. 5). In small communities such as that of Ad Decimum, the offices of exorcist and lector were sometimes united in the same person: *Proficius lector et exorcista*, in H. Leclercq, *Gratiaferrata*, in *DACL*, VI, cols. 1838.
There was not absolute uniformity in the institution and respective duties of exorcists across all Churches: for example, the *De septem ordinibus* (PL 30, 148–62), falsely attributed to St. Jerome, does not mention lectors or exorcists but instead fossors as the lowest grade of minor orders.
The ordination of exorcists, according to the *Statuta Ecclesiae antiqua* (6th century; of Arelate origin), consists in the bishop’s handing over the book of exorcisms, accompanied by the words: *«Accipe et commenda memoriae et habe potestatem imponendi manus super energumenos sive baptizatos sive catechumenos»*. This rite is preserved in the Roman Pontifical, which, besides a final blessing, has added a preface admonition: *«Exorcistam oportet abigere daemones et dicere populo ut quin non communicat det locum et aquam in ministerio fundere»*.
These words indicate the functions of exorcists: a) to cast out demons; this duty was especially exercised outside the catechumenate (4th–5th centuries); exorcists then performed the ritual laying on of hands to expel demons from baptismal candidates. With the decline of the catechumenate, the importance of exorcists also waned, for although theoretically they were also assigned the office of exorcizing the faithful, from the beginning this function was reserved to priests, who, according to current canon law, exercise it prudently and with the explicit authorization of the bishop (can. 1121); b) to dismiss the non-communicants; originally this was the duty of deacons; in the *Ordo Romanus* of the 10th century it is attributed to exorcists, but soon fell into disuse; c) to offer water to the ministers during Mass; this was initially the duty of subdeacons, which passed to exorcists by the 10th century.
In the East, in the 4th century, exorcists are mentioned in the Councils of Antioch (341) and Laodicea (318); however, they were not part of the clergy nor were they ordained, as the *Apostolic Constitutions* (VIII.26.1–2) expressly attest: *«exorcistae non ordinantur»*. The power to cast out demons was considered a charism directly granted by God to certain privileged souls, as the *Apostolic Constitutions* themselves affirm: *«Haec enim certaminis laus pendet a libera et bona voluntate et a Gratia Dei per Christum... qui enim accepit charisma sanationum per revelationem a Deo declaratur»* (ibid.). On the sacramental nature of the exorcistate, V. ORDER.