Jul 28, 2026 · 13 min · 6 segments
Fr. Chad Ripperger, one of the most experienced exorcists working today, has talked openly about what actually happens in the first minutes of an exorcism, and it's nothing like the movies. No…
Long before anybody gets to this point, there's been a process of discernment that can take months or even years.
A priest doesn't get to decide on his own that someone's possessed and start performing a rite.
There has to be a bishop's permission, a documented history, and usually a whole team involved, including someone with medical or psychological training, because the church takes very seriously the fact that most of what looks like possession is actually something else.
Father Chad Ripperger has said plainly that the overwhelming majority of cases that come across an exorcist's desk turn out not to be possession at all.
So by the time you're standing in a room where an actual exorcism is about to happen, you're already looking at one of the rare cases where every ordinary explanation has been ruled out first.
It's a careful, almost tedious screening because the church doesn't want to feed a culture of fear or superstition.
Chad Whitburger describes how the room itself gets prepared beforehand, often with sacramentals present, holy water, a crucifix, relics if available, and a team of assistants whose job isn't just to help physically if things become difficult, but to pray continuously throughout the exorcism because the priest performing the rite is not doing this alone in any sense, spiritually or practically.
The prayers themselves start very calm, and this surprises a lot of people because there's no shouting or nothing really loud going on.
The rite opens with the church's own approved prayers, invocations, and reading of certain psalms, and the priest addressing whatever is present, not the person, directly and by command, in the name of the church's authority rather than his own.
This difference, I think, is super important and it matters more than anything else in the whole process because the exorcist isn't relying on his own personal spiritual strength.
He is invoking the authority given to him by the church through his ordination, acting in a role rather than as an individual.
Father Chad Ripperger has been clear about this in almost all the interviews that he's given, that an exorcist who thinks the power is coming from himself is heading toward very real danger, both spiritually and personally.
The authority being invoked belongs to Christ and to the church, and the priest is simply the instrument standing in that authority.
In these first couple minutes, Father Chad Ripperger has talked about specific signs that begin to surface, and this is where people's imaginations tend to run wild.
So there can be a physical reaction to the sacred objects or holy water, sometimes visible aversion or agitation the moment that something blessed comes near.
Long before anybody gets to this point, there's been a process of discernment that can take months or even years.
A priest doesn't get to decide on his own that someone's possessed and start performing a rite.
There has to be a bishop's permission, a documented history, and usually a whole team involved, including someone with medical or psychological training, because the church takes very seriously the fact that most of what looks like possession is actually something else.
Father Chad Ripperger has said plainly that the overwhelming majority of cases that come across an exorcist's desk turn out not to be possession at all.
So by the time you're standing in a room where an actual exorcism is about to happen, you're already looking at one of the rare cases where every ordinary explanation has been ruled out first.
It's a careful, almost tedious screening because the church doesn't want to feed a culture of fear or superstition.
Chad Whitburger describes how the room itself gets prepared beforehand, often with sacramentals present, holy water, a crucifix, relics if available, and a team of assistants whose job isn't just to help physically if things become difficult, but to pray continuously throughout the exorcism because the priest performing the rite is not doing this alone in any sense, spiritually or practically.
The prayers themselves start very calm, and this surprises a lot of people because there's no shouting or nothing really loud going on.
The rite opens with the church's own approved prayers, invocations, and reading of certain psalms, and the priest addressing whatever is present, not the person, directly and by command, in the name of the church's authority rather than his own.
This difference, I think, is super important and it matters more than anything else in the whole process because the exorcist isn't relying on his own personal spiritual strength.
He is invoking the authority given to him by the church through his ordination, acting in a role rather than as an individual.
Father Chad Ripperger has been clear about this in almost all the interviews that he's given, that an exorcist who thinks the power is coming from himself is heading toward very real danger, both spiritually and personally.
The authority being invoked belongs to Christ and to the church, and the priest is simply the instrument standing in that authority.
In these first couple minutes, Father Chad Ripperger has talked about specific signs that begin to surface, and this is where people's imaginations tend to run wild.
So there can be a physical reaction to the sacred objects or holy water, sometimes visible aversion or agitation the moment that something blessed comes near.
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