Mexican bishop: Lack of mature faith leads Catholics to fall into esotericism
Bishop José Trinidad Zapata Ortiz leads the new Ministry of Pastoral Care of Consolation and Exorcism (DEPAC) established by the Mexican Bishops’ Conference to address spiritual, moral, and physical suffering. He warns that many baptized Catholics fall into esoteric or spiritist practices, citing Santa Muerte and satanic cults, due to a lack of mature faith. DEPAC will support trained exorcists and offer pastoral consolation, emphasizing listening, guidance, and prayer for those in distress. The bishop stresses that most evil arises from ordinary temptation rather than demonic possession, urging clergy to strengthen theological and pastoral formation. He calls for priests to take responsibility, fostering unity and cohesion nationwide in dealing with these issues.
4 months ago
Mexican Bishop José Trinidad Zapata Ortiz warns that many baptized Catholics in Mexico turn to esoteric and spiritist practices because they lack a “mature, committed and convinced” faith. To confront this trend, the Mexican Bishops’ Conference created the Pastoral Care of Consolation and the Ministry of Exorcism (DEPAC) in late 2025, appointing Zapata to lead a nationwide effort that combines spiritual consolation with trained exorcism support 1 2.
DEPAC was established at the bishops’ general assembly in November 2025 and is meant to address spiritual, moral and physical suffering that may have a malevolent origin 1 2.
Its focus is not only on exorcisms but on a broader “pastoral ministry of consolation,” offering listening, guidance and prayers to those in distress 1 2.
All parish priests are called to discern the needs of their faithful and to receive deeper formation in theology, spirituality, morality and pastoral practice 1 2.
Zapata says many Catholics “do not live out their faith in an orthodox manner” and therefore seek solutions outside the Church, including spiritist rituals, satanic practices and devotion to the folk saint Santa Muerte 1 2.
He stresses that total trust in the Lord allows believers to accept difficulties as part of a greater good, rather than fleeing to alternative cults 1 2.
The bishop distinguishes between the devil’s “extraordinary action” (e.g., rare demonic possession) and his “ordinary action” of temptation, which he says causes most evil in the world 1 2.
He cautions against both denying and exaggerating the devil’s influence, emphasizing human responsibility: the devil can act only where God permits and where people allow him 1 2.
DEPAC is already conducting spiritual exercises and courses for priests, with additional sessions planned for July 2026 that will involve lay experts such as physicians and psychologists 1 2.
The goal is to equip clergy to recognize divine, demonic, and human actions and to discern appropriately 1 2.
Zapata outlines that an exorcist must be a doctrinally sound, Eucharistic and Marian priest who cares for the sick and demonstrates honesty, transparency and uprightness 1 2.
The appointment is a bishop’s mandate based on observable qualities, not a special charism 1 2.
Examine the Catholic Church’s response to esoteric practices
The Catholic Church’s response to esoteric practices is consistent and multi-layered: it morally rejects magic, sorcery, charms, and spiritism; it requires discernment for any alleged supernatural claims; it protects the faithful by regulating spiritual “deliverance” practices; and it pastorally addresses the appeal of new esoteric movements while guarding freedom, dignity, and doctrinal unity.
Catholic teaching treats many esoteric practices not merely as “misunderstood spirituality,” but as sins against religion—i.e., against the proper worship owed to God.
The Catechism is explicit that practices of magic or sorcery—attempts to “tame occult powers” and wield them with a “supernatural power over others”—are “gravely contrary to the virtue of religion.” It adds that even when framed as healing, they remain seriously wrong; they are especially condemned when joined to the intention of harming others or to “the intervention of demons.”
The Catechism also states that wearing charms is “also reprehensible.”
The Catechism further teaches that spiritism often involves divination or magical practices, and that the Church warns the faithful against it.
It also clarifies that so-called “traditional cures” do not morally justify invoking evil powers or exploiting another’s credulity.
In a related magisterial judgment preserved in the Enchiridion, the Church answers a question about whether doctrines now called theosophical can harmonize with Catholic doctrine, and whether it is permitted to join theosophical societies, attend their meetings, or read their works. The response is: “In the negative in all cases.”
Interpretive note: This does not mean that every person who encounters esoteric ideas is equally culpable; rather, it states the Church’s judgment about objective compatibility and permitted participation.
Catholic discipline does not deny that extraordinary phenomena can occur. What it does insist on is that any supposed “revelation,” spiritual authority, or supernatural claim must be subjected to Church discernment rather than becoming a parallel authority.
In a 2025 letter concerning alleged apparitions, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith renews catechesis on the mystery of the Cross, emphasizing that the definitive revelation has already been accomplished in Christ. Therefore, “every other spiritual experience must be evaluated in the light of the Gospel, of Sacred Tradition, and of the Magisterium of the Church.”
The same letter states that prayer, love for those who suffer, and veneration of the Cross can be authentic means of conversion—but they must not be accompanied by elements that lead to confusion or by claims of supernatural authority outside Church discernment.
A key principle is that when demonic intervention is suggested, the Church “always imposes a critical assessment of the facts, as in the case of miracles,” requiring reserve and prudence. It also warns that it is easy to fall into imagination, and to be led astray by inaccurate or distorted reports—so discernment is necessary and there must be room for investigation.
Pope Leo XIV, speaking in Cameroon, links esoteric spirituality with the real danger of mixing the Catholic faith with beliefs “of an esoteric or Gnostic nature,” which “often serve political and economic ends.” He calls for vigilance and insists that only God and God’s word open paths to freedom.
What this means for practice: the problem is not curiosity about mysteries; it is the tendency of esoteric systems to become competing sources of meaning and authority—often bypassing the Church’s way of discerning truth and preserving communion.
The Catholic approach is careful to distinguish between:
A 1985 letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asks bishops to be vigilant so that those without due faculty do not conduct meetings where invocations are used to obtain release, and where demons are questioned directly to seek their identity.
It clarifies that drawing attention to norms should not distance the faithful from praying—as Jesus taught—to be delivered from evil, and it reiterates the Church’s Tradition on the role of sacraments and the intercession of Mary, angels, and saints.
The USCCB summarizes the Catholic distinction:
Bottom line: Catholic spiritual warfare is not “anything that works” or any method that claims spiritual power. It is structured by public ecclesial authority, discernment, and sacramental theology.
Catholic teaching takes a balanced stance: it rejects superstition and magic, but it also warns against reducing everything to mere psychology or dismissing demonic reality altogether.
A 1975 Dicastery document emphasizes that the Church has never allowed people to rid themselves of responsibility by attributing faults solely to the devil.
It states that Christian teaching condemns superstition and magic, refuses to capitulate to fatalism, and refuses to diminish human freedom in the face of pressure.
The document also criticizes contemporary positions that deny or relativize demonic reality, warning that the Church requires a critical assessment when such possibilities are suggested and stresses the need for discernment.
So Catholic response is neither credulity nor denial: it is a moral and pastoral demand for truthfulness, freedom, and prudent discernment.
The Pontifical Council for Culture describes new religiosity and emerging spiritualities as a major challenge for new evangelization because they “pretend” to meet people’s spiritual, emotive, and psychological needs more effectively than the Church and traditional religious forms.
It notes that through syncretistic and esoteric practices these movements often form a pseudo-religious dynamic that can “stifle” people or deprive them of liberty and dignity.
When Pope Leo XIV warns against mixing Catholic faith with esoteric/Gnostic beliefs, he ties the issue directly to freedom: only God sets free, and God’s word opens paths to freedom.
Pastoral implication: Catholic opposition to esotericism is ultimately protective—aimed at preserving what esoteric systems often distort: worship of the true God, the authority of Christ revealed in the Church, and the dignity and freedom of persons.
The Catholic Church’s response to esoteric practices is a coherent fusion of moral condemnation (magic, sorcery, charms, spiritism), doctrinal discernment (every spiritual experience must be evaluated by Gospel, Tradition, and Magisterium), regulated spiritual warfare (especially regarding questioning demons or acting without faculty), and pastoral clarity (new syncretistic “spirituality” often undermines liberty and dignity). The consistent aim is to keep believers centered on God’s definitive revelation in Christ and protected from superstition, confusion, and unauthorized claims to supernatural authority.