Kramer, too, is skeptical of the online exorcism. “It would be like trying to perform a baptism on someone through the telephone,” he says.īut the reverend argues that there isn’t much point to digitizing the exorcism, anyway.Kenneth is a therapist at the Gay Therapy Center. “An exorcism is a religious rite,” says Thomas Allen, author of Possessed, a book about a series of exorcisms that occurred in 1949, and an expert on the ritual. “Neither Skype nor the Internet could possibly be used.” Whether these faux exorcists could offer their services on other online platforms-FaceTime, Google Hangouts, maybe even Snapchat-remains to be seen. Earlier this month, the Daily Telegraph reported that the church was training more priests to perform exorcisms, the result of a resurgence of cases of demonic possession in Spain and Italy and a series of “dodgy” exorcisms unordained demon hunters performed in those countries. The demand for exorcisms is on the rise, with a full 57 percent of Americans believing in the devil, but holy house calls remain time-consuming and costly. It’s no surprise that scam artists might latch onto the Skype as a means for exorcism. Want to self-treat? They have a beginners’ training pack for $29.95 so you can teach yourself to exorcise in just four weeks. Naturally, they charge a $50 “diagnostic fee,” as well as requiring many biographical details.

A number of websites, such as, offer online exorcisms to demon-ridden customers. Successful or not, the Internet-ization of exorcisms has made the ritual an unlikely sort of commodity, one that scam artists and self-identified (read: untrained) exorcists have used as a runway to fast cash. The exorcism was not successful, and the man purportedly traveled soon afterward to meet Rabbi Batzri in the flesh. In 2010, famous Israeli Kabaalist Rabbi HaRav David Batzri attempted to exorcise a Brazilian man possessed by a “dybbuk,” a demon, over Skype. Larson isn’t the first to champion the Skype exorcism, which functions, as you might expect, with the help of hand movements, two webcams and virtual eye contact. “Experience healing and delivery at YOUR CONVENIENCE.”

It’s “your chance to receive ministry…from the quiet and comfort of your own home,” reads Larson’s site. All this is why religious leaders like Kramer are slamming Larson’s hawking of Skype exorcisms on his website.

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