Jean Ligier, your journey is quite atypical since you are a former gendarme and military chaplain. Can you briefly trace the main stages of your career?
I got involved at 17 and a half by “outcome of call” and at the end of the national service, having succeeded in the entrance exam to the gendarmerie I left for the gendarmerie school in Berlin before being assigned In the Paris region and then in the Alpes Maritimes and the Var. I successively served in various territorial units, research and in company as a gendarme and then as a officer.
In your military daily life, how did faith reveal to you?
Since my father's death (at that time I was 9 years old) I have always come closer to the church.
During my commitment to the gendarmerie and in my various assignments, I also got closer to my parishes of assignments and when I got married, myself and my wife, we have always lived our faith together.
We have helped local communities in preparation for the sacraments. During my career, I was asked by my superiors to prepare for the weapon celebrations and various military ceremonies.
It was in 1997, then deputy majority of the Cannes gendarmerie company, that one day, I was “pushed” (by the spirit) to the parish priest (without knowing why) and after a Long interview, I was directed on the diaconate.
I was ordered in 2003 permanent deacon and put at the service, by the Bishop of Nice of the time, from the diocese to the French armies. Until 2022 when my wife and I decided to return to my sources: the Jura.
I was thus naturally affected as a military chaplain in the operational reserves for the Jura gendarmerie group.
Today in the Jura, what is your mission?
The bishop of Saint-Claude offered to participate in the service of exorcism on the diocese. After reflection, I accepted, having also participated in this ministry for three years in the diocese of Nice.
My mission is to welcome people in suffering and who think they are victims of curses or who feel in the grip of the devil. You have to listen, to discern with them the origin of their discomfort and sometimes celebrate an exorcism by prayer formulas (ordinary prayers) for the deacon and extraordinary (for the priest in the rarest cases).
The prayers of exorcism aim to expel the malignant demons or minds of linked or who are supposed, possessed or infected.
-Apart from the sensationalism which he often evokes, how does an exorcism take place? How much do you practice each year?
You have to discern an infested or possessed people.
In the case of an infestation, Satan can grasp the imagination and the memory of a body and alter the will (but not the soul which belongs to God alone, because man always keeps his freedom). When it acts, it causes psychic involvement: listening, dialogue and prayer make it possible to unravel the troubles.
In diabolical possession, the possessed no longer dominates anything because evil acts without the consent of the person. In this case, rare, however, an exorcist priest can alone act in the face of this possession.
The catechist of the Catholic Church (CEC Art 1673) stipulates: “By exorcism, it is the Catholic Church which acts in the name of Jesus Christ, through an ordained minister, in order to protect and drive from them (people) the demons (s)… ”.
During the prayers of deliverance, it is essential to return to prayer and the sacraments of Christian initiation and sacrament of forgiveness. We encourage them to read and pray to the Word of God and get closer to their local community which will help them grow in their personal relationship with the Lord. Of course, they can come back to consult us to deepen their faith.
It is very difficult to assess an annual number because calls are often related to news. I would say between 50 to 60 calls per year in our diocese, mostly concerning people between 25 and 50 years old.
A question that annoys, but that many are asking. However, you are particularly well placed to answer them: is the devil exist?
The demon or the devil, I would say more simply evil, exists and all we experience it. It is the absence of relations with God and the others, it is a withdrawal to the detriment of others and loneliness, isolation, are the main causes.
The devil, with his horns, his hooked feet and his ardent fork is an image. But the invisible devil appropriates the fragile person.
So, yes the devil exists. From a theological point of view, he is considered an angel revolted against God, fallen and precipitated in hell (on earth), which pushes humans to do evil. He brings into temptation, he leads to sadness and despair by taking peace, dividing and obscuring consciences. According to the Bible, he is the prince of lie, the prince of darkness, he is the one who divides accuses, or slander.
Do you have a last message to convey our readers?
Our mission is to welcome anyone, with all confessions, who comes to ask for the help of the church. In each diocese there is a service of exorcism and the exorcist can only act if the person is domiciled in his diocese.
If he is a person in suffering, let us help to equip himself for the spiritual fight by orienting him towards the resources of the Church or towards a therapist according to the needs.
Finally, I want to specify that the service of the exorcist is completely free.
Contact : [email protected]
