If you could perform a mass exorcism to cast all of the evil out of an entire country, which one would you choose? I suspect that the U.S. would be high on many lists along with its numerous real and alleged enemies. Mexico might be somewhere in the middle, unless you just had a bout with some bad burritos. Yet it has just been revealed that the Catholic Church recently picked Mexico for a secret “Exorcismo Magno,” an unprecedented ceremony of mass exorcism. Did it work?

San Luis Potosí Cathedral where the national exorcism was performed

On May 20, 2015, renowned exorcist Father José Antonio Fortea, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, Archbishop Emeritus of Guadalajara and a number of trained exorcists met secretly at the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Luis Potosí to perform the Exorcismo Magno or Great Exorcism. The cardinal explained why:

(because) of the seriousness of the situation that we live in Mexico, which has very deep roots, beyond human evil, which is the devil, who is closely connected with death and has been a murderer from the very beginning.

So far, that sounds like a lot of places. From his comments, perhaps Father Fortea wanted to get into some exorcism world record book with his national demon wipe-out.

This rite of exorcism, beautiful and liturgical, had never before taken place in any part of the world.

Exorcist Father José Antonio Fortea

While there was no mention of any involvement by Pope Francis, the pope himself has performed an impromptu public exorcism and has increased the number of training sessions for exorcists in Rome.

Now that the Exorcismo Magno has been performed, is it safe to plan a Mexican vacation? Not yet, says Father Fortea.

We don’t drive out all the evil spirits from a country with just one ceremony. But even though all will not be expelled, those that were removed are not there anymore.

How often should these country-wide exorcisms be performed, Father Fortea?

… if this ritual were to be carried out in more countries once a year, before or after, this would put an end to any extraordinary manifestations.

A secret ritual to cast demons out of a country once a year? That doesn’t sound like an exorcism – that sounds more like an election and we know how well those work.

Voting the demons out