Location of the Conference: University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein Seminary,
Mundelein, Illinois
INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC CONFERENCE ON HEALING THROUGH THE
MINISTRY OF EXORCISM AND DELIVERANCE
In 2005 and 2006 the initial conferences on exorcism and deliverance were held at Green Lake, Wisconsin. The years that followed necessitated the conferences being moved to the campus of Mundelein Seminary near Chicago where the last seven conferences have been held.
The conference continues to draw over 200 priests and lay teams who are active as discerners and prayerful intercessors working with appointed exorcists. The need for the formal rite of exorcism is growing in various diocese as bishops are determining the need. With increased interest by many in occult practices, new age and satanic involvement, greater numbers of individuals are turning to the church for help.
Chancery offices are beginning to realize a need to establish procedures and personnel to identify whether a person needs medical/psychiatric help or referred to the exorcist. Exorcists fully engaged in this ministry expend many hours in discernment and ministry to identified clients. Many exorcisms take repeated appointments of a few hours each.
Exorcists are strongly advised to never minister alone. It is imperative that they engage in the formation of brother priests to assist in this ministry, as well as form lay teams to assist in discernment and prayer.
Each year the conference (usually held in August) is recorded and professional CDs are available online for purchase of all the speakers who share their expertise in a specified area of this ministry. It is recommended that diocesan libraries purchase sets of the CDs for references for their priests, particularly those assisting the exorcist. In more recent years parish priests are being challenged with requests for help with deliverances at the parish level. Many are overwhelmed by the suffering and painful stories of parishioners who have engaged in evil and are now looking for relief.
In diocese where there is no formal discernment process in place, priests call the conference office and ask for help. The humility of these priests requesting some consultation and/or clarification of what the person has presented is always a grace for us to be able to listen and guide them accordingly. as this ministry of exorcism and deliverance began to be realized . As crucial and appropriate to the ministry of priesthood, the need for in depth education is imperative.
The conference team was given permission to establish an institute to meet that need. The Pope Leo XIII Institute is officially established under a 501c3 and the first session of the institute was held in February 2014. There will be forthcoming information on the present website in the ensuing months as content and curriculum are further in development.