Church sees rise in exorcism requests after ‘haunting’ at Norfolk hospice
Church of England official says requests for deliverance are increasing
A recent call for an exorcism at a Norfolk hospice where staff had reported paranormal activity is part of a growing trend for such interventions, a leading church official has said.
Dr Anne Richards, who oversees the activities for the Church of England, said the number of inquiries for so-called ‘deliverances’ was on the rise.
She was speaking after a case at the Priscilla Bacon Lodge, in Norwich, hit the headlines last week when emails emerged in which the site’s NHS chaplain, Rev Helen Garrard, requested help from church colleagues.
The chaplain was concerned that staff at the Unthank Road site had been upset by a number of “paranormal incidents”.
These reportedly included sightings of a girl in a red dress.
After discussions with a member of the church’s team specialising in deliverance – the term it prefers to exorcism – the chaplain conducted a blessing at the hospice, which has since relocated to a purpose-built site near the N&N.
Dr Richards, the Church of England’s national officer for ‘deliverance ministry’, spoke out to shed light on the activity, which has become closely associated with the 1973 horror classic The Exorcist.
She said that unlike the depiction in the film, deliverances were usually quiet and calm and that the focus tended to be on reassuring people rather than “upping the temperature”.
She told the Times: “The number of inquiries they receive is rising. It’s fair to say there is an uptick in requests for help.
“But it’s not to do with a spirit being cast out of a person. It’s a whole range.
“We had quite a surge of cases after Covid with people who, during lockdown, started to hear funny things in their houses. Most of the time it was the plumbing,” she added.
There are understood to be between three and seven people working in each diocese’s deliverance team in addition to their other responsibilities.
Dr Richards added that frequent reasons for call-outs include those suffering bereavements and individuals who fear they have invited dark spirits into their lives through occult activities such as Ouija boards.
HOSPICE ‘HAUNTING’
The exorcism incident at the Priscilla Bacon Lodge occurred in 2023, just days before the hospice relocated to its new site.
Details have only emerged now after the chaplain’s emails were published following a Freedom of Information request.
Since the story was published, some people have attempted to explain the paranormal activity, including the apparent sighting of the girl in the red dress.
A podcast on the supposed haunting suggests a number of theories.
One suggestion it that the sighting could simply have been a pupil at the nearby Colman Infant School, which has a red jumper as part of its uniform.
Others have said that because the hospice was in the process of relocating from the site – the former Jenny Lind children’s hospital – this may have sparked fear and confusion among staff, patients and visitors.
Paul Lee, an author who specialises in ghosts and paranormal activity, said it was more common for staff to report sightings than patients. “It is usually the staff,” he said.
“The patients tend not see the reports in the papers, whereas the staff work on the site for many years and talk about the rumours themselves.”
He also said the church had traditionally been reluctant to publicise its deliverance activities.
“They’re just exorcists but they don’t seem to ring the bells and whistles you see in the movie,” he added.
“It’s something the church doesn’t want to publicise. It might be because they don’t want to be besieged by people who hear a slight hiss or tick in their homes.”