In 1969, the Swiss Jesuit Herbert Haag published Goodbye to the Devil, an argument that Satan was merely a metaphor. Along with two American Jesuits, Henry Ansgar Kelly and Juan B. Cortes, he opposed the practice of exorcism. They reasoned that modern man had outgrown the medieval belief in demons.
Fifty years on, it is fair to say that they misread the signs of the times. According to a recent article in The Atlantic, the US now has well over a hundred known Catholic exorcists – up from 15 in 2011. This surge is a response to increased demand. Interest in exorcism has fueled the success of bestsellers, blockbusters, and the global rise of charismatic
Christianity.
