Appointment of exorcists in the Catholic Church
Initially, exorcising was a matter of individual charisma and many practiced it without ordinations. A formal appointment of exorcists is mentioned for the first time in the letter from Pope Cornelius (251-253) to Fabius, the bishop of Antioch. The first mention of an exorcist’s statute in the East can be found in the documents of the synod of Laodycea (ca. 360 A.D.). The matter of the first ordinations of exorcists was touched upon by the synod of Carthage (398 A.D.).