Exorcism: Tangible Sign of Jesus' Victory

Spiritual Warfare: Talk on Exorcism 

by Fr. Jose Francisco Syquia,JCS of the 

Office of Exorcism, Archdiocese of Manila

National Shrine of the Sacred Heart
September 28, 2012

Spiritual Warfare presentation of Fr. Jose C. Syquia

"Our struggle is not against human foes but against cosmic powers"
- St. Paul

There is an active entity acting on our weaknesses.

"Our enemy may also be compared in his manner of acting to a false lover. He seeks to remain hidden and does not want to be discovered."

- St. Ignatius of Loyola 

Christ himself encountered the devil. Why not us?

We can never understand man unless we also understand the Devil, evil and the redemption. 

Demonology grants us true appreciation of what God has done to us. Helps us better develop our Christian identity. 

Sin brings disorder to the faculties which gives the demons more power over us. The Devil can work on your emotions.

Exorcism is a tangible sign of Jesus' victory on the Cross over the powers of darkness. Even if the devil has been conquered by Christ he can still be active because he can only be thrown back to hell for all eternity in the final judgment, in Christ's second coming.

As Christians we have power over evil spirits.

Fr. Syquia

In the Gospels, Jesus desires that His exorcisms are public unlike His other miracles.

Demons cannot live where Jesus is. As Christians we are more targeted by the Devil because we have a direct line to God.

Three Openings to Extraordinary Demonic Attack

Notes from the Vatican:

• When Christianity is forgotten, the vacuum is filled with the occult. Curses come from the power of the evil spirits and not from the power of the magician

• The Church betrays itself when it denies its power of exorcism. It is a work of charity.

• Occult practitioners take advantage of the sufferings of other people when they are vulnerable.

• Uncertainty in life and in loss of faith makes a person turn to occultism

• What is possession?  Temporary substitution of the self-awareness of the person. Discernment is important in healing/ exorcism

• Heavy metal music is music consecrated to Satan: 

       78% of teens have contact with satanism (44% through music)

• Satan does not subdue Satan so he only subdues a weaker demon and remains in that person. 

Diagnostic Procedure

Angels were very visible during the Old Testament because they were bound up with the preparation of the coming of the Messiah. It is their mission to lead the pagan peoples to God. But the devil corrupted this by making men worship these angels thus resorting to polytheism.

Religions of old resorted to idolatry and polytheism except Israel who believed in one God because their guardian was St. Michael the angel who battled and won against the devil. 


Man experiences God through His conscience and, through divine intervention, is led to faith


Occultism, folk Catholicism leads to blocking of blessings. 

There is no middle power, if you use powers other than that of God then you are using that of the Devil. You have to be very discerning. 

"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters."

- Matthew 12:30

There are no good spirits other than the angels. All else is the Devil.


The Sacramentals by which to fight against and protect us from demonic attacks:

Holy Water

Exorcized/ Holy Oil

Blessed Incense

Exorcised Salt and Holy Relics

Imagination can be read by the devil because it is not a spiritual faculty. Also memories and emotions. But he has no access to the intellect and the heart because only God can read the mind and the heart of man. The devil victimizes those who rely on their selves and not on God.

"We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."

- 1 John 5:18-21

You don't need to have your 3rd eye opened to be holy. Occultism goes against the 1st Commandment: dealing with psychic abilities and getting in touch with the spirit world. 

In an exorcism it is between God and the victim. The exorcist is only the instrument. If a person goes back to God he may be tempted again but can never be oppressed. 

The only power the devil can cause is fear! They cannot even kill us. There is nothing outside the providence of God!

Know your enemy then know your authority over them which Christ has given us. 

"When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick." 

St. Therese of Lisieux