Exorcisms are not just the stuff of horror movies, and some people take them very seriously. In fact, the Philippines will soon be home to what the Archdiocese of Manila claims is the “first exorcism center in Asia,” which is exactly what it sounds like.
Construction on the Saint Michael Center for Spiritual Liberation and Exorcism broke ground in Makati City in May, a milestone that the archdiocese said was over seven years in the making.
“Peace and joy in the Lord! We are excited and humbled to share with you that the groundbreaking ceremony of the Saint Michael Center for Spiritual Liberation and Exorcism was held last May 17, 2022 at Bernardino Street corner EDSA, Guadalupe Viejo, Makati,” the Archdiocese of Manila Office of Exorcism wrote on their Facebook page.
Peace and joy in the Lord! We are excited and humbled to share with you that the groundbreaking ceremony of the Saint…
Posted by Archdiocese of Manila Office of Exorcism on Sunday, June 5, 2022
“A product of more than [seven] years of prayers, planning and fundraising, this religious structure will be the first of its kind in Asia, if not the world,” it added.
The Manila archdiocese said the Saint Michael Center will house the Archdiocese of Manila Commission on Extraordinary Phenomena, the Ministry of Exorcism Office, the Ministry on Visions and Phenomena Office, and will serve as the headquarters of the Philippine Association of Catholic Exorcists (PACE). PACE is directly under the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and affiliated with the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) based in Italy.
“This Center will minister to those in bondage to the devil who are therefore the poorest of the poor and are usually overlooked,” the archdiocese wrote.
ICDYK, Saint Michael in Catholic liturgy is an archangel, the defender of the Catholic Church and Satan’s opponent, who also assists people in the hour of their death. The saint is invoked in a prayer during an exorcism.
The Catholic Church only allows certain priests to perform exorcisms, with the ritual performed with a bishop’s permission. Exorcisms will only be performed after a doctor has ruled out a mental or physical illness during an evaluation.
