This Makes Me Uncomfortable

This is a fascinating article.  It talks about some Catholic priests who gathered together to perform a mass exorcism on the entire country of Mexico.

I’ll start out by saying that exorcisms are Biblical and I see nothing in the Bible that would indicate that they are no longer possible today.  That being said, all of the Biblical examples of exorcism involve a single individual.  Sometimes multiple demons (Mark 5:1-20), but a single individual.  I’m willing to even imagine that small-scale group exorcisms could be performed.  I’ve done house blessings before which, while not necessarily exorcising evil spirits, should do what the end of this article describes – giving people some “breathing space” and fortification.  I imagine an exorcist might be able to drive out demons from several people at once.

But an entire country?

That seems problematic.  For starters, if this is a thing, why is it only being done for the first time now?  Why haven’t national exorcisms been ongoing?  Secondly, if such a process is effective, why limit it to a single country?  Why not exorcise all of Central America?  Or for that matter, why not the entire planet earth?  Wouldn’t it be nice to know that there were no more demons loose on our planet, that they were all shivering their collective butts off on Jupiter or Mars?  Could we exorcise our solar system, to ensure that we’re safe from demonic re-infiltration even as we aspire to sending humans deeper into space?  By driving the demons out of Mexico does that mean that there are more demons elsewhere?

The Church certainly has been given some authority and power against evil, but I don’t see how something on this scale can be not just rationalized but justified.  Evil is with us and there are powers that are at play to be certain.  Freeing one person from demonic power could mean that another person is put at risk.  Imagine that on a national level and things get even more interesting.

Thoughts?  Experiences?  I’d feel more comfortable with this if it seemed less symbolic (and therefore ultimately lessening of the seriousness with which both demons and exorcism are treated).