Conservative General Election candidate is 'qualified exorcist' who seeks to 'set people free of fear and false belief'

27 June 2024, 13:05

By Natasha Clark

@NatashaC

A Conservative candidate in Cardiff East is a ‘qualified exorcist’, LBC can reveal.

Reverend Doctor Beatrice Brandon, who is standing in Cardiff East, works for the Church of England’s deliverance ministry – which is considered part of the ‘healing ministry’ of the Church.

Some areas say this ministry helps people who “feel they may be haunted cursed or oppressed”

The ordained priest previously said she hopes her work can help “set people free of fear and false belief and bring them to truth”.

According to reports, has also completed the “only course recognised by the Holy See for the training of exorcists, in Rome”.

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Hundreds of priests from more than 50 countries have attended the course, which aims to learn how to identify demonic possession and learn rituals for expelling demons.

She has said that the need for major exorcisms is rare, and that she hopes people can come to her rather than trying out so-called "freelance exorcists", according to comments to The Church Times and for an article for the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

She went on: “I would love people to come to us first, rather than trying out some of the more extraordinary things there are out there, like freelance exorcists.

“I would like deliverance ministry not to be tucked away in a dark corner, but to be understood as a way of expressing the gospel and bringing people to Christ.”

But critics say that this sort of spiritual treatment can deter people with medical or mental health issues from getting traditional clinical help.

Reverend Doctor Brandon has said she hopes her work would be seen as expressing the gospel and bringing people into the Church.

However, she added that after watching ‘The Exorcist’ film, many people often see her work as a bit of “an anticlimax.”

She added: “The film, The Exorcist has probably been the single strongest influence on popular ideas and assumptions about Christian deliverance ministry for the past 40 years.

“After watching that film, deliverance ministry as done within the Church of England might seem to be an anti-climax.”

In a separate report for the Church of England, Reverend Dr Brandon also said: “The decision to perform a service of exorcism should only be taken after other avenues have been explored” and should only be done by “a priest or other minister who has the authority of the bishop to do so”.

This should involve love, not magic or manipulation, she added.

Reverend Dr Brandon has worked as an advisor to five Archbishops, and has lived in Northamptonshire with her husband and daughter.

She was awarded a degree of Doctor of Divinity for her work in the healing ministry.

LBC has approached the Conservatives and Reverend Doctor Brandon for comment.

The full list of candidates standing in Cardiff East is:

• Rodney Berman for Liberal Democrats
• Lee Canning for Reform UK
• Sam Coates for the Greens
• Cadewyn Skelley for Plaid cum-ree
• Jo Stevens for Labour
• And John Williams for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition