He called it a gift from God.
Brownsville Pastor Gabriel Villela told Action 4 News he can cast out demons.
The evil spirits he claimed hide inside many of us, sometimes making us sick.
“God told me, ‘Gabriel, if you take bad spirits out of people, the sicknesses they have will go away,’" said Villela.
Every Tuesday believers fill a small room in Brownsville.
Berta Guillen said she had a thyroid problem.
"The doctor had given me all kinds of medications,” said Guillen. “The medications weren't helping me."
Rolando Garcia said he was addicted to drugs.
"A cocaine addict, and I even got to the point where I was smoking crack," said Garcia.
It all changed when both met Villela.
"The doctor told me, 'I don't know what you took or what happened, but there's nothing wrong with you," said Guillen.
“I was liberated of a spirit, a spirit of addiction,” said Garcia.
Arthritis, depression, even cancer: all are illnesses Villela said he's conquered by expelling demons from members of his flock.
Villela said he expels demons an average of 15 times a week.
“Right now it's popular,” said Doctor Tony Zavaleta, an anthropology professor at the University of Texas at Brownsville. “It's in vogue for people to be possessed by demons."
Zavaleta said in the last 20 years, there's been a dramatic increase in people claiming they’re possessed.
“But the majority of this is an emotional disturbance, some sort of mental health issue," said Zavaleta.
Zavaleta said he has seen a case in which a healer like Villela cured a Brownsville woman of ovarian cancer.
He said some in the Valley will see a pastor before a doctor.
“We have the lowest level of insurance coverage, the highest rate of poverty, one of the highest rates of belief and participation with folk healers,” said Zavaleta. “So here in the Valley your first line of defense might not be your family practice physician.”
"The church has always said the first line of defense for a Christian is common sense," said Bishop Daniel Flores of the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville.
In an audio recording on the diocese web site, Bishop Flores explained the Catholic Church's view on demonic possession.
"Possession is actually fairly rare," said Bishop Flores.
The devil, Bishop Flores said, is a hot topic.
Although he's never seen a possession first hand, Bishop Flores said he has seen plenty of obsession.
"Possession is when the devil for some mysterious reason has been able to take possession of the interior soul of the person,” said Bishop Flores. “Obsession is not that the devil is inside. It's harassing you from the outside."
Priests only perform exorcisms after thorough physical and mental evaluations.
"There's a very, very rigorous examination the church goes through to be able to discern whether something is actually a possession or not,” said Bishop Flores.
Villela said he only casts out demons from people after they see a doctor.
His followers called him their last hope when medicine and doctors didn't do the job.
"I'm so thankful I found him," said Guillen.
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