By Mark McConville
A MASS exorcism ritual involving hundreds of people has been captured in a series of shocking images where the exorcist would charge desperate local people up to one-monthâs wages to âbanish demonsâ.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
The disturbing pictures show up to 150 people queuing to be exorcised and people being held in place as they scream when holy water is sprayed on them or a cross is placed on their forehead.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
Other striking shots show a womanâs face being held as she lets out a loud shout, a priest touch a young manâs head during the ritual and hundreds of people being sprayed with holy water at once.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
Czech photographer, David Tesinsky (28), from Prague, ventured to Ethiopia in search of exorcism rituals that still take place in the Ethiopian Orthodox church.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
In Yerer Selassie church, not far from Addis Ababa, Tesinsky found more than 150 people waiting in line to have an an exorcism ritual performed on them by Ethiopian Orthodox Priest and Exorcist, Memehir Girma Wedimu.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
âPeople were crying, screaming and Memehir was punching them,â said Tesinsky.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
âMemehir was rejected all other churches because he earned more money than the church itself.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
âHe kept asking for money â I saw one very old woman give him $100 to âexpelâ her of demons and he still wanted more, even though $100 was most likely all she could earn in one month.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
âThese exorcism rituals are usually performed if someone is not responding to modern medicine or if they are misbehaving, as it is thought they are possessed by a âdemon spiritâ or âbudaâ. They must be performed by a local priest.â

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
Ethiopian Orthodox was considered the state church until the fall of Haile Selassie in 1974. In many villages, the people have lived in fear of certain curses and demonic powers that have kept them in bondage and terror for generations.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
According to a 2010 Pew Research Center study, 74 per cent of Christians in Ethiopia claim to have experienced or witnessed an exorcism.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
Demon-possessed persons are brought to a church or prayer meeting.[36] Often, when an ill person has not responded to modern medical treatment, the affliction is attributed to demons.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
Unusual or especially perverse deeds, particularly when performed in public, are symptomatic of a demoniac. Superhuman strength â such as breaking one’s bindings, as described in the New Testament accounts â along with glossolalia are observed in the afflicted.

David Tesinsky / Universal Features / mediadrumworld.com
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