The devil procures physical diseases

During his preaching and mission, Jesus always acted on the sufferings of various kinds, whatever his origin.

There are some cases, in which the disease was of malevolent origin and the devil only manifested himself when he was hunted, while until then he had not revealed himself clearly. We read in fact in the Gospel: They presented him with a demon-possessed mute. Once the demon was expelled, that mute began to speak (Mt 9,32) or a blind and mute demon was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the mute spoke and saw (Mt 12,22).

From these two examples it is clear that Satan was the cause of physical diseases and that as soon as he was expelled from the body, the disease disappears and the person regains his natural state of health. In fact, the devil manages to generate illnesses and physical and mental difficulties even without showing the typical signs of his extraordinary action which reveal his direct action on the person (possession or harassment).

Another example reported in the Gospel is the following: He was teaching in the synagogue on Saturday. There was a woman there who for eighteen years had a spirit that kept her sick; she was bent and could not straighten up in any way. Jesus saw her, called her to him and said to her: «Woman you are free» and laid her hands on her. Immediately that one stood up and glorified God ... And Jesus: Could this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan kept tied eighteen years of age, not be released from this bond on Saturday? (Lk 13,10-13.16).

In this last episode, Jesus clearly speaks of a physical impediment caused by Satan. In particular, he exploits the criticism received from the head of the synagogue to confirm the malevolent origin of the disease and give the woman full right to be cured even on Saturday.

When the extraordinary action of the devil rages on a person, physical and psychic impairments such as mutism, deafness, blindness, paralysis, epilepsy, furious madness can therefore occur. In all these cases Jesus, chasing away the devil, also heals the sick.

We can still read in the Gospel: A man approached Jesus who, throwing himself on his knees, said to him: «Lord, have mercy on my son. He is epileptic and suffers a lot; it often falls into fire and often also into water; I have already brought it to your disciples, but they have not been able to heal it ». And Jesus answered: «O unbelieving and perverse generation! How long will I be with you? How long will I have to put up with you? Bring it here ». And Jesus threatened the unclean spirit saying: "dumb and deaf spirit, I will order you, get out of him and never come back" and the devil left him and the boy was healed from that moment (Mt 17,14-21 ).

Ultimately the evangelists distinguish within the Gospel three different categories of sufferers:

- the sick from natural causes, healed by Jesus;
- the possessed, whom Jesus frees by driving out the devil;
- the sick and possessed at the same time, that Jesus heals by driving out the Devil.

The exorcisms of Jesus are therefore distinguished from healings. When Jesus casts out demons, he frees the bodies from the devil who, if he is causing various diseases and infirmities, ceases to act also on a physical and psychic level. For this reason, this type of liberation should be considered as physical healing.

Another passage of the Gospel shows us how a liberation from the devil is considered a healing: Have mercy on me Lord, son of David. My daughter is cruelly tormented by a demon ... Then Jesus replied: «Woman, your faith is truly great! Let it be done to you as you wish ». And from that moment his daughter was healed (Mt 15,21.28).

This teaching of Jesus should always be taken into consideration, as it clearly contrasts the modern tendency to rationalize everything and that pushes to consider everything that is not scientifically explainable as something "natural" not yet known, whose physical laws are to misunderstood today, but which will be revealed in the future.

From this conception, "parapsychology" was born, which claims to explain everything that is incomprehensible or mysterious as something related to the forces of the unconscious and to unknown dynamisms of the psyche.

This contributes to consider simply those who crowd mental asylums as "mentally ill", forgetting that among the real mentally ill there are also many people who are victims of demonic possession who are treated in the same way as others, by filling them with medicines and sedatives, when a release would be the only effective cure to restore their normal physical and mental health.
Praying for the patients of psychiatric clinics would be a very useful commitment but too often overlooked or not considered at all. After all, we always remember that Satan prefers to have these people interned because, with the semblance of an incurable psychic illness, he is free to dwell in them without being disturbed by anyone and far from any religious practice that could distance him.

The concepts of parapsychology and the claim to be able to explain all physical and mental illnesses from a natural point of view have heavily contaminated the genuine Christian faith and have proven devastating, especially within the seminary teachings to future priests . This has in fact resulted in the almost total elimination of the ministry of exorcism in various dioceses around the world. Even today, in some Catholic theological faculties, it is taught by someone that there is no diabolical possession and that exorcisms are useless legacies of the past. This openly contradicts the official teaching of the Church and of Christ himself.