Editing Exorcism (section)

=== Eastern Orthodoxy ===
The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] has a rich and complex tradition of exorcism.<ref name="Milosevic">{{Cite web |last=Milosevic |first=Sasa |date=2011-08-17 |title=The Secrets Of Orthodox Exorcists |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/secrets-of-orthodox-exorcists_b_925883 |access-date=2021-09-19 |website=[[HuffPost]] |language=en}}</ref> The practice is traced to biblical accounts of Jesus expelling demons and exhorting his apostles to "cast out devils".<ref>Matt.10:8; Luke 10:17–20.</ref> The church views demonic possession as the devil's primary means of enslaving humanity and rebelling against God. Orthodox Christians believe objects, as well as individuals, can be possessed.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Papademetriou |first=George C. |title=Exorcism in the Orthodox Church – Theology – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America |url=https://www.goarch.org/-/exorcism-in-the-orthodox-church |access-date=2021-09-19 |website=[[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

As in other Christian churches, Orthodox exorcists expel demons by invoking God through the name of Jesus Christ.<ref>Library of the Greek Fathers and Church Writers, Athens: Apostolike Diakonia 1955, Vol. 3, pp. 288–289)</ref> Unlike the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]], all priests of the Orthodox Church are trained and equipped to perform exorcisms, particularly for the sacrament of [[Baptism#Eastern Orthodoxy|baptism]]. Like their Catholic counterparts, Orthodox priests learn to distinguish demonic possession from mental illness, namely by observing whether the subject reacts negatively to holy relics or places.<ref name=":2" /> All Orthodox liturgical books include prayers of exorcism, namely by [[Saint Basil]] and [[John Chrysostom|Saint John Chrysostom]].

[[Eastern Orthodox theology|Orthodox theology]] takes a uniquely expansive view of exorcism, believing every Christian undertakes exorcism through their struggle against sin and evil: {{blockquote|The whole Church, past, present and future, has the task of an exorcist to banish sin, evil, injustice, spiritual death, the devil from the life of humanity ... Both healing and exorcising are ministered through prayers, which spring from faith in God and from love for man ...  All the prayers of healing and exorcism, composed by the Fathers of the Church and in use since the third century, begin with the solemn declaration: In Thy Name, O Lord.<ref>Archbishop Iakovos, Exorcism and Exorcists in the Greek Orthodox Tradition, Sage Chapel, Cornell University, March 10, 1974.</ref>}}Additionally, many Orthodox Christians subscribe to the superstition of [[Evil eye|''Vaskania'']], or the "evil eye", in which those harboring intense jealousy and envy towards others can bring harm to them (akin to a curse) and are, in effect, demonically possessed by these [[negative emotion]]s.<ref name="Milosevic"/> This belief is most likely rooted in pre-Christian paganism, and although the church rejects the notion that the evil eye can have such power, it does recognize the phenomenon as morally and spiritually undesirable and thus a target for exorcism.<ref name=":2" />