Priests Band Together to Cast Out Demons From Entire Nation

According to Catholic authorities, demonic influence has grown so strong in Mexico, the entire country needed an exorcism.

With skyrocketing crime, violence and gang activity, coupled with the troubling ascendance of the cult of Santa Muerte (“Saint Death”), demons have been blamed for much of the chaos gripping the historically Catholic nation. The drastic step of performing the “Exorcismo Magno” is believed to be the first such rite performed in Mexico.

Exorcisms are typically performed on individuals, and often when that individual and/or his loved ones has recognized the demonic presence and the need for the rite. The purpose of the unconventional mass exorcism is, according to Father José Antonio Fortea, who assisted with the ritual, “to exorcise the powers of darkness, not from a person, but from the whole country.”

Pointing to the increasingly visible effects of crime, violence and idol worship, Fortea said the purpose of the rite was to combat demons tempting the nation’s people as “sin increases more and more in a country.”

Some, however, are unsure of the validity of the seemingly unique ritual.

“I have never heard of a country-wide exorcism,” said Pastor Karl Payne of Antioch Baptist Church to WND. “I do believe that Daniel 10:10-13 indicates that countries can have demonic hosts assigned to undermine the work of God and the people of God doing that work. But I do not see any New Testament teaching on exorcisms being attempted on countries rather than people.”

Payne, however, believes the fact that the ritual has been done and that news outlets are covering it could be a promising sign for how people perceive sin, demons and spiritual issues.

“I think the fact that major media outlets are covering this story is an implicit acknowledgement that sin is real, it is creating very real problems for real people in real towns, cities and countries, and neither empiricism, rationalism, economic redistribution, sociological experimentation nor political theory seem to be capable of resolving all of these issues,” he said. “Since man’s solutions to solving the sin problem are not working well, maybe it is time to look back to the teachings of Jesus Christ, and not be too proud to ask our Creator for help.”

Pastor Carl Gallups echoed this sentiment, pointing to the recent popularity of the “Charlie Charlie” game—which involves participants, often adolescents or teens, attempting to summon a demon—as evidence that spiritual matters are something increasingly in the public’s consciousness.

“We would be remiss to discount the absolute biblical fact of demonic activity and demonic intervention in human affairs, which obviously abounds worldwide—not just in Mexico,” he said.