She levitates above her chair. An old man hurls a priest across the room. A young woman speaks full paragraphs in Bulgarian, a language she’s never studied. A man’s skin blisters at the sight of a crucifix.
In interviews with The Baltimore Sun, exorcists claimed these are not movie scenes but moments they’ve witnessed firsthand. And what’s more, requests from the public to undergo the ancient ritual are multiplying.
Today, more than 50 years after Linda Blair’s head spun in the hit film “The Exorcist” and nearly 15 years after the Catholic Church convened its first U.S. seminar on exorcism in Baltimore, the priests who claim to do battle with demons are in more demand than ever.
At the time of that Baltimore meeting, about two dozen exorcists practiced in the United States; today, it has more than six times that amount.
“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.”
As anyone who has seen “The Exorcist,” the 1973 psychological thriller by director William Friedkin, knows, an exorcism is a prayer encounter in which a trained clergyman calls on the power of the Holy Spirit to dispel a demonic entity or entities believed to be harassing, oppressing, or possessing the bodies of human beings.
In the Christian worldview, the Devil is an angel who was expelled from heaven for rebelling against God’s will. Christians also believe an array of demons — lesser but similarly rebellious spiritual figures — were cast out along with Satan, and that the dark figures work together to sever the connections between human beings and their creator.
“What’s an exorcism? It’s breaking your relationship with the devil or an evil spirit,” said the Most Rev. Thomas Paprocki, the Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, who organized and helped run the landmark Baltimore symposium.
The movie showed that the process can be terrifying and dangerous. Filmgoers saw Blair as Regan McNeil, the 12-year-old victim of demonic possession, spit bile, spew curses in Latin, levitate, throw a priest across the room, and in a moment that made movie history, grin maniacally as her head whirled around 360 degrees. Exorcists claim these moments reflect the very real battle between good and evil.
Exorcists interviewed for this story said their screening process shows that more than 99% of those who claim possession are suffering from a mental illness. Even when a demonic presence is discerned, it’s rarely as severe as the one portrayed in the movie.
“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.”
Based on his firsthand experiences, Msgr. Stephen Rossetti shares accounts of real-life encounters with malevolent forces. (Surya Vaidy/Staff)
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.
“These sorts of things happen, but not daily,” said Rossetti, who participates in up to 20 exorcisms of varying intensities per week, often at the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal in Washington, the ministry of deliverance he founded 24 years ago.
The center serves individuals who reside within the Archdiocese of Washington, regardless of their religious affiliation. The territory includes Montgomery, Prince George’s, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore, like the vast majority of the nation’s 173 dioceses, has a team of individuals trained to conduct exorcisms, but Christian Kendzierski, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said officials declined to comment due to the sensitivity of the topic.
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.
A small statue of Saint Benedict, a Christian monk which is for sale at the St. Benedict Center. Saint Benedict is often invoked in exorcisms and is known for his power over demons, particularly through the Saint Benedict Medal. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)
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, b–ch.”
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. In addition to his books, he keeps a blog on his exploits and conducts an online deliverance prayer session with attendees from more than 50 countries.
Shrieking cats
Richard Gallagher, an Ivy League-trained New York psychiatrist, was once every bit as skeptical about supernatural phenomena as most of his scientifically oriented colleagues.
Then, as he describes in his 2020 book, “Demonic Foes: My Twenty-Five Years as a Psychiatrist Investigating Possessions, Diabolic Attacks, and the Paranormal,” a priest Gallagher knew brought a woman he refers to as Julia to his home office.
The night before her visit, he told The Sun, he and his wife were awakened at 3 a.m. by the sound of their two normally friendly cats shrieking and clawing each other.
When Julia came to his home the next morning, Gallagher said, she introduced herself with a smirk and asked him how his cats were doing.
What he saw as he observed her over the next few weeks convinced him her condition could not be explained by medical science. On one occasion, he recalled, during a drive with Julia and the priest, she appeared to fall asleep, then said, in a suddenly deeper-than-usual voice, “You never learn, you f—ing priest! She’s ours, leave her alone, or you’re going to be sorry.” When she awoke, she had no idea where she was.
A replica of the St. Benedict Medal, as well as the obverse of the pendant, is displayed in front of a small item with the likeness of Saint Benedict, a Christian monk, which is for sale at the St. Benedict Center. Saint Benedict is known for his power over demons, particularly through the Saint Benedict Medal. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)
Another time, he said Julia told him she could “see” a friend of his even though the man was several states away. When Gallagher called him to check, the man confirmed her description of his attire (a blue windbreaker) and what he was doing (walking on a beach).
Gallagher later attended several exorcisms of Julia — a self-described Satanist. The sessions fell short of liberating her, but they were the first of hundreds he has witnessed while emerging as one of the world’s most widely consulted scientific experts on demonic possession — and he said he has been seeing more cases than he can fit into his busy physician’s schedule.
“Anybody who thinks there are no Satanists is just as wrong as anybody who thinks that Satanists are around every corner,” he said.
A victim levitating
Another longtime exorcist spoke to The Sun on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from a bishop who prefers secrecy.
He said he has never heard of a head spinning but 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.
“This went on for a few minutes,” he said.
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Now retired, the priest still gets multiple requests per week, and “it’s hard to blow off people who are suffering.” 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.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that years from now, many of them will have demonic afflictions,” he added.
Still, he and his colleagues have faith that God has power over Satan, and as long as they bring the faith, strength and humility the task calls for, he’s sure it will set the captives free.
“It’s a great confirmation of the faith and one of the graces of this ministry,” he said.
Have a news tip? Contact Jonathan M. Pitts at jonpitts@baltsun.com.
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