“The Catholic church is first to admit that before demonic activities might even be considered, the situation must be clearly established to *not* be mental illness.”
While it is “true” that before a priest exocist must first determine if the person who is the subject of the said exocism could also be suffering from “mental illness”, would it surprise you that if my memory is correct, Pope Benedict XVI did call for more priests to be trained to be “exocists” a few years back?
In this very difficult and dark age, we do need more trained priests exocists. Also an important reminder of the unity of body, mind, and soul in the human body.
The call for more exorcists is likely based on a combination of things that the church thinks need a serious response.
Many Catholics feel deeply troubled by the evil at work in the world, much of which, perhaps even most of which, is caused by men, who do not deserve the excuse that they are inspired by demons. They are just naturally evil, or have learned to be evil. Often they truly desire to be evil.
Such evil can be overwhelming to a person of faith, and just visiting church and praying is not enough for some. They take it upon themselves to think that they are the reason that evil is visited on them. That they are being punished for their sins, real or imagined, or that they are being tormented by demons.
Truthfully, they need spiritual “house calls”, for a priest to call on them in their home, to drive out that which is in them or their environment that attracts, brings in and sustains evil. Someone with greater spiritual strength than they can muster, an expert of the pure and the impure, who can recognize and expel that which torments them, within and without.
For a priest to attempt such a thing is not easy, because in such a case there are *never* false alarms.
(As an aside, acupuncturists have an axiom that if someone complains of a problem, they have a problem, and if one is not evident, they have not looked hard enough. And when they do find it, it will likely be very serious, as it is strong enough to conceal its true nature. A very fitting analogy in this case.)
For an exorcist, while their emphasis is on the spiritual, they must also contend with the physical, both within and outside the afflicted. Bodily disease and mental illness are not exclusive to spiritual suffering, and a person may look healthy and happy, or horrible, depressed and distraught, and still need deep spiritual healing and protection.
The truth of exorcism is based in its demand, and the Pope is right in enlarging the ranks of exorcists. Even without demons they are essential. With demons, they are at war.