[AP] In popular culture, exorcism often serves as a plot device in chilling films about demonic possession. This month, two Roman Catholic archbishops showed a different face of exorcism — performing the rite at well-attended outdoor ceremonies to drive out any evil spirits lingering after acrimonious protests.The events’ distinctive character gave a hint of how exorcism — with roots in ancient times — has evolved in some ways as it becomes more commonplace in many parts of the world.
In Portland, Oregon, Archbishop Alexander Sample led a procession of more than 200 people to a city park on Oct. 17, offered a prayer, then conducted a Latin exorcism rite intended to purge the community of evil. The event followed more than four months of racial justice protests in Portland, mostly peaceful but sometimes fueling violence and riots.
On the same day, 600 miles to the south, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone performed an exorcism ceremony outside a Catholic church in San Rafael, where protesters had earlier toppled a statue of Father Junipero Serra.
"We pray that God might purify this place of evil spirits, that he might purify the hearts of those who perpetrated this blasphemy," Cordileone said.
Serra was an 18th-century Spanish missionary priest, long praised by the church for bringing Roman Catholicism to what is now the western United States. His critics say that Serra, in converting Native Americans to Catholicism, forced them to abandon their culture or face brutal punishment.
Cordileone said the exorcism prayers in Latin, remarking that "Latin tends to be more effective against the devil because he doesn’t like the language of the church." The prayers were different from those offered when a person is believed to be the subject of demonic possession.
Two experts on exorcism -- religious studies professor Andrew Chesnut of Virginia Commonwealth University and the Rev. Pius Pietrzyk of St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in California -- recalled no other recent exorcisms in the U.S. similar to those in Oregon and California.