![]() ![]() In 1972, the minor orders were reformed men preparing to be ordained as Catholic priests or deacons would no longer receive the minor order of exorcist the minor orders of lector and acolyte were retained, but redesignated as ministries. As a minor order, exorcists wore the surplice. By the twentieth century, the order had become purely ceremonial. The office of Exorcist was not a part of the sacrament of Holy Orders but as a sacramental was instead first conferred on those who had the special charism to perform its duties and later to those studying for the priesthood. Augustine noted that rites of exorcism by exsufflation (breathing upon the candidate) were also performed for the baptism of infants. Authors such as Eusebius (3rd century) and Augustine (4th century) provide details of these minor exorcisms: Eusebius mentions the imposition of hands and prayer. These exorcists routinely performed ceremonies over adults and infants preparing to be baptised. Text previously attributed to a fourth Council of Carthage (398), now identified as a collection called Statuta Ecclesiæ Antiqua, prescribes in its seventh canon the rite of ordination of such an exorcist: the bishop is to give him the book containing the formulae of exorcism, saying, "Receive, and commit to memory, and possess the power of imposing hands on energumens, whether baptized or catechumens". ![]() Since at least the third century, the Latin Church has formally ordained men to the minor order of exorcist. ![]() In a Roman Catholic context, exorcist may refer to a cleric who has been ordained into the minor order of exorcist, or a priest who has been mandated to perform the rite of solemn exorcism. ![]()
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