Sacred Machines:

Exorcism as a Behavioral Correction Device at the Crossroads of Two Eras (1990–2025)

Abstract

This article analyzes how exorcists, at the end of the 20th century, through the publication of books, employ the discourse of exorcism to confront the institutional crisis of the Church in the face of modernity and secularization. It seeks to understand how exorcism is used as an instrument for behavioral correction, reintegration of the faithful into orthodoxy, and restoration of ecclesial authority. From 1990 onwards, there is a growing production of books by exorcists such as Amorth, who attribute the absence of the ritual in the 20th century as a catalyst for the spiritual decline in which society is submerged. Books such as An Exorcist Tells His Story (1990) and The Last Exorcist (2010), along with official Church documents, comprise the source inventory used in this research, which understands them as instruments in the exorcists effort aimed at the moral formation of the faithful.