I am Protestant, baptized and raised, but I do not ever hear about Protestant pastors driving out demons in exorcisms. We know the spiritual world is real, so exorcisms have to be real by default. Demons can call out our sins to accuse us and drag us down with them, so that is also universal between Catholics and Protestants.
So what is the defining difference that gives Catholics the power to do the exorcisms and not Protestants?
Do they teach in a way that gives more divine authority? Are we doing something wrong? Or is it withholding information within the Catholic church?
Despite all the issues of hierarchy and man-made structure within the Roman Catholic Church, one advantage is that they have preserved tradition and practices through the ages. In short, they have methods that are reliable, and it's all written down.
Most protestants are far less disciplined in terms of documenting this kind of stuff, but they still perform exorcisms regularly.
Fun fact- every Catholic church (almost, they have slackers and temporary issues) has holy water available on request, sometimes with a modest charge but usually free. Although Protestant pastors will bless water on occasion, I've never known a Protestant church to make it really available to the public or even to the congregation. Holy water is a very useful tool when fighting or exorcising evil spirits.
THIS: "Holy water is a very useful tool when fighting or exorcising evil spirits."
Holy Water is in every Catholic Church. Just take a container to fill, it is definitely free. I have some in my home at all times.
I read that even a few drops of holy water infuses other water, so I use a few drops in every load of laundry.
My dear lady, you are a fountain of knowledge, excuse the pun. 👍
Amen. I bless my daughter and husband every night with holy water.
I love all your useful advice; looking into that now
That and blessed salt. Also - some priests will exorcise the water first before blessing it. (I understand that demons can be attached to anything.)
BTW, I find it appalling that some churches charge for holy water?!?
I've found it in 2 places ... One was a mission, so more a historical site than a typical church, and it was 25 cents per container. The other church had a similarly modest fee, but it surprised me.
At .25 per container, did you supply the container, or did the church?
I think I did.