In families involved in occult practices, does baptism free their infants from such things?

Q: In families that are suffering from generational curses or that are involved in a lot of occult practices, why doesn't baptism free their infants from the power of demons? (Ohio)

A: The short answer is that I wouldn't be so quick to assume that baptism doesn't do this.

Often when people think of exorcism, what first comes to mind is the over-the-top Hollywood version. Or on a related note but more accurately, they might think of what we call the church's ritual of "major exorcism" or "solemn exorcism," which can be celebrated only by a specially-mandated exorcist priest with his bishop's permission.

A major exorcism is ordered to casting out demons in those who are clearly suffering from true possession, as verified by obvious signs after a process of careful discernment.

But exorcism in general is a broader category. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it: "When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism" (CCC 1673).

Besides the rite of major exorcism, the church also has several "minor exorcisms" in her treasury of prayers. A minor exorcism is a prayer for protection against and deliverance from evil spirits which can be prayed by any priest in scenarios other than demonic possession.

The sacrament of baptism itself has an exorcistic character, since, as the Catechism puts it: "baptism signifies liberation from sin and from its instigator the devil" (CCC 1237).

When a person is baptized, they -- or their parents or godparents on their behalf, if they are an infant and unable to speak for themselves -- promise explicitly to "reject Satan (…) and all his works."

Furthermore, the Rite of Baptism also contains a minor exorcism as part of the ritual. One option for this in the Rite of Baptism of infants reads:

"Almighty and ever-living God, you sent your only Son into the world to cast out the power of Satan, spirit of evil, to rescue man from the kingdom of darkness, and bring him into the splendor of your kingdom of light. We pray for this child: set him (her) free from original sin, make him (her) a temple of your glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell with him (her). We ask this through Christ our Lord."

Even beyond baptism, the other sacraments can have exorcistic effects, insofar as they free us from sin (such as in the sacrament of penance) and strengthen us against temptations and the lure of darkness. In fact, the sacraments in and of themselves are more powerful against Satan than the ritual for solemn exorcism.

When it comes to things such as curses and other frankly supernatural activity related to involvement with the occult, the church does not have much clear-cut official teaching. Much of the details of what is known about these phenomena comes from the personal observations of practicing exorcists -- which can be useful as far as it goes, but is not on the same level as the official dogma we would find in places like the catechism or other teaching documents from the church.

Still, the spiritual common sense around such things is that the baptized, who are delivered from the powers of darkness by their baptism, normally will not experience any extraordinary demonic afflictions unless they do something of their own free will to "open a door," such as attempting to engage in the supernatural through illicit means or committing certain serious sins.

While God in his mysterious providence might permit someone to experience demonic torments through no fault of their own in very rare cases (as happened in the lives of some canonized saints) for the most part a baptized Catholic who strives to avoid sin and who regularly receives the sacraments won't be needing the specific ministry of an exorcist.