Decades after the hit horror film, demand for exorcists on the rise
"We're getting more and more people needing an exorcism," said Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a Washington, D.C.-based priest who has been conducting the solemn religious rite for more than 20 years. "There are only about 150 exorcists in the country, and they are being flooded with requests, including from many desperate people pleading for assistance. We can't keep up with the demand now - and it's only going to get worse."
"While most cases are not as intense as the 1973 movie, there are wild things that occasionally happen," said Rossetti, a licensed psychologist and the author of exorcist books, including "Diary of an American Exorcist" (2021) and "My Confrontation With Hell."
"Objects do get thrown across the room; people do vomit up strange objects; they do speak in demonic voices, often have superhuman strength and can have occult knowledge and communicate in foreign languages."
Sudden temperature drops also happen, he added, and victims do react strongly to holy water and other sacred objects. He has seen a few levitate.
Few who conduct or view the ritual are eager to discuss it, and the church generally shields the process from the tabloids. But some cases are inherently sensational, such as when Rossetti sought to liberate a woman he calls "C," who had been cursed by self-described witches.
After Rossetti and his team prayed over her, he recalled, she "vomited up an ugly, thick, black liquid" - and hours later, a text message appeared on her phone: "You'll have a migraine all night for throwing me up, bitch."
Rossetti favors sharing such experiences to bring the service to wider attention at a time when, in his view, the American public has become far less committed to formal faith practices.
Another longtime exorcist spoke to The Sun on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from a bishop who prefers secrecy.
He said it's common for afflicted people to physically resist entering a church, have the strength to throw a grown man across a room, manifest totally white eyes, speak in Russian or Latin, or - a sign he says means a demon is being expelled -- foaming at the mouth so badly that "you have to get a bucket."
He also witnessed in Rome a victim levitating about two feet above her chair. He and four other team members had to hold her down.
He helped establish the Pope Leo XIII Institute, an educational center on exorcism, in the Chicago area in 2012, and like almost everyone in the field, he's a member of the International Association of Exorcists, an organization the church founded in 1994 and boasts more than 900 members.
The priests interviewed for this story have theories as to why exorcism is in demand. Some point to the growing number of Americans drawn to the kind of alternative practices - tarot cards, astrology, the use of Ouija boards - they believe are like catnip to demons.
Rossetti said there are three steps toward "getting possessed" - abandoning one's faith life, committing serious sins, and practicing the occult - and "a frightening number of people, including young people, going down this path.
https://www.miamiherald.com/living/artic...53519.html
Funny how devil posses humans who leave faith and play D&D but not those who protect pedophiles.
"We're getting more and more people needing an exorcism," said Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a Washington, D.C.-based priest who has been conducting the solemn religious rite for more than 20 years. "There are only about 150 exorcists in the country, and they are being flooded with requests, including from many desperate people pleading for assistance. We can't keep up with the demand now - and it's only going to get worse."
"While most cases are not as intense as the 1973 movie, there are wild things that occasionally happen," said Rossetti, a licensed psychologist and the author of exorcist books, including "Diary of an American Exorcist" (2021) and "My Confrontation With Hell."
"Objects do get thrown across the room; people do vomit up strange objects; they do speak in demonic voices, often have superhuman strength and can have occult knowledge and communicate in foreign languages."
Sudden temperature drops also happen, he added, and victims do react strongly to holy water and other sacred objects. He has seen a few levitate.
Few who conduct or view the ritual are eager to discuss it, and the church generally shields the process from the tabloids. But some cases are inherently sensational, such as when Rossetti sought to liberate a woman he calls "C," who had been cursed by self-described witches.
After Rossetti and his team prayed over her, he recalled, she "vomited up an ugly, thick, black liquid" - and hours later, a text message appeared on her phone: "You'll have a migraine all night for throwing me up, bitch."
Rossetti favors sharing such experiences to bring the service to wider attention at a time when, in his view, the American public has become far less committed to formal faith practices.
Another longtime exorcist spoke to The Sun on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from a bishop who prefers secrecy.
He said it's common for afflicted people to physically resist entering a church, have the strength to throw a grown man across a room, manifest totally white eyes, speak in Russian or Latin, or - a sign he says means a demon is being expelled -- foaming at the mouth so badly that "you have to get a bucket."
He also witnessed in Rome a victim levitating about two feet above her chair. He and four other team members had to hold her down.
He helped establish the Pope Leo XIII Institute, an educational center on exorcism, in the Chicago area in 2012, and like almost everyone in the field, he's a member of the International Association of Exorcists, an organization the church founded in 1994 and boasts more than 900 members.
The priests interviewed for this story have theories as to why exorcism is in demand. Some point to the growing number of Americans drawn to the kind of alternative practices - tarot cards, astrology, the use of Ouija boards - they believe are like catnip to demons.
Rossetti said there are three steps toward "getting possessed" - abandoning one's faith life, committing serious sins, and practicing the occult - and "a frightening number of people, including young people, going down this path.
https://www.miamiherald.com/living/artic...53519.html
Funny how devil posses humans who leave faith and play D&D but not those who protect pedophiles.
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
