At noon on May 20, behind closed doors in the Cathedral of San Luis Potosí, a unique event in the modern history of Mexico took place. Headed by Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, Archbishop Emeritus of Guadalajara, and guided by the famous Spanish priest and exorcist Fr. José Antonio Fortea, a group of priests performed a “Great Exorcism.” This rite is intended to be used to exorcise a diocese or a country.
In his book The Great Exorcism, Fr. José Antonio Fortea explains this ritual step by step. He writes that this ceremony “drives away demons” and “is useful in situations in which great violence has been unleashed in a country.”
Mexico suffers from a growing wave of violence, and according to official numbers, approximately one hundred thousand abortions have been performed just in the capital since abortion was legalized in 2007.
Due to the private nature of this rite, it was only made known through social networks or isolated publications, such as an article published on the website Verycreer.com by the Mexican journalist Roberto O’Farrill, who was present for the Great Exorcism.
In a conversation with ACI Prensa, the Archbishop of San Luis Potosí, Jesús Carlos Cabrero, confirmed that the Great Exorcism took place on May 20 in his archdiocese’s Cathedral.
“This celebration is a sacramental of the Church,” he explained, and indicated that during the ritual “some priests were present, and Cardinal [Sandoval] did me the favor of accompanying us, in response to an invitation I sent him.”
Archbishop Cabrero explained that the ceremony was handled in private because “otherwise morbid interests appear, and misinterpretations.” “What we want is to seek the good above all,” he clarified.
The Mexican archbishop indicated that this rite “prays, for example, about the problem of divorce and of abortion, which often are favored by inhuman laws, laws that go against nature itself.”
We ask God, he said, “to free us from the strong presence of the Evil One, that makes itself felt. To do that, we turn to this special prayer, which is certainly extraordinary, but which is nonetheless a Church practice.”
Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez agreed with the Archbishop of San Luis Potosí that the Great Exorcism “is a prayer asking God to drive away the Enemy, to drive him away from these places. From San Luis, first of all, and then from all of Mexico.”
In declarations to ACI Prensa, Cardinal Sandoval Íñiguez affirmed the importance of people becoming aware of “the very grave situation we are living through in Mexico, whose root is very deep, beyond human malevolence; it is the devil, who is very connected to death. He is a murderer from the beginning.”
“It’s time for people to become more aware of the seriousness of the situation in Mexico. I hope what we did here is multiplied,” he encouraged.
The Mexican cardinal lamented “violence against young and old” in Mexico, since “it’s true that abortions are performed even when it is not legalized, but when a country, a Christian country, legalizes abortion, that is a tragedy. It is a very, very grave sin.”
“Acts of revenge, now occurring between assassins and the government; deaths here, deaths there, and deaths everywhere: this violence is nothing else but the Devil who is tearing us apart,” he lamented.
The Mexican cardinal spoke in favor of renewing the custom of praying the prayer to St. Michael Archangel, written by Pope Leo XIII.
Roberto O’Farrill, a Catholic journalist who participated in the Great Exorcism, believes that Mexico is going through a demonic infestation, similar to what happened in these lands before evangelization and the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, when pre-Columbian cultures offered human sacrifices to their false gods.
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