This article analyses Argentina's contemporary religious field. On the basis of a statistical study on beliefs and religious attitudes, the authors reflect on a wide range of issues. They address the consequences of secularization in Argentine society, new configurations in how people believe and practise religion, shifts in religious identification, the religious diversification process, in which believers fall off the institutional frame, and, finally, people's on religious intervention in public issues (such as education, sexual health and family planning).

This article proposes to study the contemporary implementation of Catholic exorcism rituals in France. It is a growing demand that challenges the Catholic Church and expresses discomforts in contemporary society. Based on a study conducted in France between 2016 and 2020, the research is spread over various dioceses and works with diverse actors (priests, exorcists, ritual requesters, lay collaborators) belonging to plural groups. Using qualitative strategies – mainly ethnography, active interviews and document analysis – this article analyses the population requesting exorcism, and attempts to understand the environments in which the practices are anchored and the work of the exorcists. This article shows the dialogue established between the practice of exorcism and medical interpretations, and the deployment of a new listening and regulation of the Church towards an increased demand which is related to indeterminate misfortunes linked to the field of health and healing.

En la intersección entre religión y salud, las demandas de sanación, liberación y exorcismo expresan malestares indefinidos que van desde afecciones físicas y psiquiátricas hasta problemas psicológicos y relacionales. Para comprender esta demanda creciente, este estudio se propone analizar, por un lado, las concepciones de persona y enfermedad y, por otro, las terapéuticas que los sacerdotes y sus asistentes ponen en funcionamiento, a partir de una investigación etnográfica con observación participante y entrevistas en profundidad realizadas entre 2013 y 2017 en parroquias de la ciudad de La Plata y otras localidades de la provincia de Buenos Aires. Los resultados nos permiten comprender que la concepción de persona –sobre la cual se desarrollan las terapéuticas– supone un ensanchamiento del individuo hacia los planos físico, psicológico y espiritual, y que las nociones de enfermedad y bienestar abarcan a la persona, a su entorno y a las generaciones pasadas.