The founder and president of the National Association of Exorcists of Venezuela, P. Ronny García, warned of “the influence and increase” of the esoteric rites in the country, and of the growing “participation of the laity in satanic rites and in visits to sorcerers”, in an interview with ACI Press on July 31.
Venezuelan exorcists will meet from August 4 to 8 in Caracas, to reflect on this reality in their III Formative Assembly. This edition seeks to deepen the biblical and theological foundations of the Ministry of Exorcism, “addressing key issues such as demonology, the power of Christ and the authority of the Church,” according to the Diocese of Guasdualito.
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Father Garcia was ordered priest in 2019, when he was 46 years old. It was incardinated in the same Diocese Apureña, where he today exercises as a diocesan administrator, although he is a native of Maracaibo. In addition, since 2021 he is the representative of Venezuela before the International Exorcist Association.
The priest says that “some own realities” were the ones that motivated him to exercise the exorcist ministry, beyond the request of Mons. Pablo Modesto González, the last bishop of Guasdualito.
The raffle mountain and spiritualism in Venezuela
From a young age he has been accustomed to the extraordinary action of the devil. Under deception, he was taken by a acquaintance to the raffle mountain twice, in Yaracuy state, epicenter of spiritualist practices in Venezuela. This, he says, marked him deeply during his adolescence.
In Sorte, María Lionza is worshiped, a spiritual figure arising in the twentieth century from the fusion of indigenous, African and spiritual beliefs. The myth has roots in indigenous legends and consolidated as popular practice in the 50s, gaining national visibility. Thousands of people gather there to carry out their rituals.
“In that place, syncretic practices converge that mix indigenous, African and popular elements. There are rituals of possessions, invocations of spirits. They use tobacco and alcoholic beverages, drums and bodily gestures. With all this they seek to channel spiritual entities,” explains the Venezuelan exorcist.
Father Garcia stresses that these practices are not compatible with Christian faith and remember that the Church teaches that spiritualism “can open doors to spiritual influences that do not come from God.” He also ensures that the dangers of attending these sessions “are really very serious.”
“Those who participate will always be exposed to spiritual confusion. They also become psychically and emotionally vulnerable. Of course, there is also demonic influence, because invoking these entities open spaces to the evil one,” he adds.
The exorcist points out that these sessions have grown in Venezuela in recent years, warning that they can become a vice easily. That is why the National Exorcist Association was born.
The exorcist ministry in Venezuela
Father Garcia regrets the shortage of exorcists in the country. Currently, there are 16 priests dedicated to this apostolate throughout the national territory. Many are “collapsed” for the great demand of faithful looking for their help.
The priest emphasizes that most cases originate from “behavioral problems” and psychiatric diseases. However, he points out that in his short time as an exorcist he has attended “two cases of true possession” and a few of diabolical disturbances.
It should be noted that the Marabino priest is also a specialist in public health management and emergency.
In addition to the “carafal ignorance” of the laity in this matter, Fr. García also asks the Venezuelan bishops, who are the exorcists par excellence, who collaborate and designate priests who can help them with this ministry.
“We are simply collaborators of them, to be able to carry out this ministry and not continue to push our sheep so easily towards the arms of Protestant shepherds and these Occultism operators,” said the exorcist.
“Many sheep arrive. Only listen to them, attend them and make them a simple prayer, they have already felt that they have left that demon they have in their mind, but that they really have nothing. This is a country with a high index of superstition,” he added.
The National Exorcist Association is “a materialized dream” of Fr. García. The initiative arises in 2021, thanks to a course of the College of Exorcists of the Primada Archdiocese of Mexico. “If this belongs to God, this will move on,” the priest thought at that time.
The association was approved in 2023 by the Episcopate, after a jealous verification and audit process. Since then, the work of P. García has given fruits, largely increasing the number of exorcist priests in Venezuela (there were 11 for the time the association was established).
“We extend our pastoral attention to all those who seek comfort and healing, through the sacraments, prayer and spiritual accompaniment. With the pastoral The truth will make us free”He said.
Great exorcism in Venezuela?
Since 2018, the possibility of carrying out a “great exorcism” on Venezuela has been discussed, from A suggestion made For the Spanish priest José Antonio Fortea to the Episcopate.
When asked about this, Fr. García said that the issue appeared timidly in the first assembly of the National Association of Exorcists, but that “it has never been raised in Venezuela.”
“First, because the Ministry of Exorcism is a matter of jurisprudence, it is the personal of each bishop, of each diocese. The tuition or the association is for us to unify the criteria we have of the Church and respect them, put them in common and carry them out,” said the Venezuelan priest.
“The rite of exorcism, which is a sacramental, is a prayer made by the Church. It has been prepared to perform it on people, on houses, on animals, but it has not been prepared to apply it in a general way to a country, to a land,” he added.
Father Garcia invited Venezuelans, especially priests, to join the Eucharist, who frees the demon’s action, to ask for the needs of the country. He also highlighted the importance of Marian devotion, especially from Rosario, in spiritual combat.
“Maria is always seeing our needs. The demon flees even even a blessed image that is at home, because the demon knows that Maria is the only creature that embarrassed him,” he said.
“Back to Maria is to give the devil a strong blow,” concluded the priest.
Andrés Henríquez
I was born in Caracas in 1996. I am a writer for ACI Press and correspondent of EWTN since 2023. Since then, I cover events of the Catholic Church in Venezuela, Latin America and the world. I have more than 6 years of experience in bilingual media. In addition, in Venezuela I have worked from various fields for freedom and respect for fundamental rights in the country. I am a member of the Regnum Christi Federation since 2014.