Bishop of Rome Francis approved the decrees on the defrocking of nine Ukrainian monks for the exorcism as the official website of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) reported.

'The people started to talk about Sister Maria Baran from the monastery in Velyki Borky in 2004. She seemed to hear the voice of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, Sacred Virgin Mary, and some saints. Some of the messages were written down by Father Planchak. The priest confirmed their veracity and origin from God but did not have the authorities for this as the Synod of UGCC officially claimed', the message said.

During the searches at the monasteries in Kolodiivka and Velyki Borky, the violations of the monastic discipline and prayers of exorcism without the particular permissions were spotted.

'The priest, who wants to do this, should get the special permit, blessing from the local bishop. But they did not heed to the comments', Teodor Martynyuk, the bishop-assistant of Ternopil-Zborowski archdiocese claimed after the checks in 2017.

Moreover, some of the monks did not stick to the statute and were guided by the orders of the so-called 'prophetess'. The special commission worked in the monastery to come to the final conclusions and it decided that those who spread the orders of the 'prophetess' manipulate the notions of the obedience and spiritual guidance.

The re-organization of St. Theodore the Studite monastery took place after the conclusions of the commission. However, part of the monks did not accept the comments of the church authorities and refused to obey. They continued to violate the monastic rules and illegally settled in Posich village, Ivano-Frankivsk region.

'After the proper warnings, nine monks were defrocked. Pope personally approved this decision', the message said.

In accordance with the approved decrees, they lose their affiliation to the monastic practice, the right to wear robes; they are deprived of all rights and commitments and they cannot call themselves the monks.

Exorcism is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or an area, they are believed to have possessed.