An Exorcist Tells His Story

FATHER GABRIELE AMORTH An Exorcist Tells His Story Translated by Nicoletta V. MacKenzie IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO Title of the Italian original: Un escorista raconta © 1990 Edizioni Dehoniane, Rome Cover art: Expulsion of the Devils from Arezzo, Story of St. Francis, detail Giotto di Bondone Upper Church, S. Francesco, Assisi, Italy Scala/Art Resource, NY Cover design by Roxanne Mei Lum © 1999 Ignatius Press, San Francisco All rights reserved ISBN 0-89870-710-2 Library of Congress catalogue number 98 —74066 Printed in the United States of America © CONTENTS Foreword to the American edition, by Father Benedict J. Groeschel Foreword to the Italian edition, by Father Candido Amantini Author’s Introduction The Centrality of Christ The Power of Satan APPENDICES The Diabolical Vision of Pope Leo XIII The Gifts of Satan Exorcisms Targets of the Evil One APPENDIX Afraid of the Devil? Saint Teresa of Jesus Responds The Point of Departure The First “Blessings” The Demon’s Behavior A Victim’s Witness Effect of Exorcisms Water, Oil, Salt Exorcising Houses The Curse More on Witchcraft Who Can Expel Demons? The “Cinderella” of the Ritual APPENDICES Saint Irenaeus’ Thought A Vatican Document on Demonology Pastoral Directives to Be Rebuilt APPENDICES A Document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith It Is Dangerous for the Amateur to Attack the Devil Conclusion PRAYERS OF DELIVERANCE FOREWORD TO THE AMERICAN EDITION When asked, as a psychologist involved in things spiritual, to introduce this edition, at first I declined. Although I have had experience with those suffering from what I am convinced were diabolical influences, I have difficulties with Fr. Amorth’s approach. He writes of this intriguing subject in ways quite foreign to the ideas of the English- speaking world, a world that vacillates between severe rationalism and wild speculation. The behavioral sciences are divided on the existence and nature of paranormal phenomena, as the highly respected Professor Benjamin Wolman has noted in The Handbook of Parapsychology, a standard work. Although Fr. Amorth is by no means naive about the psychological causes of aberrant behavior, his own work as an exorcist is not a form of psychotherapy. It is a spiritual ministry. He has been very successful in helping a wide range of persons with acute disturbances quite beyond the scope of clinical diagnosis. He raises the issue of the diabolical, which almost always gets a response of ill-informed prejudice. He makes us think. As a priest rather than a clinician, I recognize in this book the account of an intelligent and dedicated pastor of souls who has had the courage to go where most of us fear to tread. He uses a rhetoric foreign to most of us and even theological concepts alien to our way of thinking. But the same can be said of the Gospel accounts of our Savior’s own work when delivering “those possessed by evil spirits”. This book needs to be read with care but with an open mind. Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., Ed.D. FOREWORD TO THE ITALIAN EDITION It is with great pleasure that I write a few words to introduce Father Gabriele Amorth’s book. Father Amorth has been my worthy collaborator for many years in the ministry of exorcist. He and I have experienced together some of the events reported in this book, and together we have shared the worries, hardships, and hopes of helping the many suffering people who have turned to us. It is also with pleasure that I welcome the publication of these pages, because, although in these last decades much has been written in almost every field of Catholic morality and theology, the topic of exorcism has been all but forgotten. Maybe it is because of this lack of study and interest that, even now, the only part of the Ritual that has not been updated according to the postconciliar directives of the Second Vatican Council is the one concerning exorcisms. Despite this, the importance of the ministry to “expel demons” is great, as we can see from the Gospels, from the actions of the apostles, and from the history of the Church. When Saint Peter, by supernatural inspiration, was led to the house of Cornelius the centurion to announce the Christian faith to the first handful of gentiles, he demonstrated that God was truly with Jesus by stressing in a concrete way his ability to free all who were in the grip of the devil (Acts 10:1-38). The Gospels often show the extraordinary powers that Jesus possessed over evil with concrete examples. By expelling demons, our Lord could not have chosen a more powerful way to show us that the Father sent his only begotten Son into this world to put an end to the dark reign of Satan over men. Sacred Scripture assures us that the forms of Satan’s power over the world include physical obsession. Jesus repeatedly stressed the ability to expel demons among the specific powers that he wanted to pass on to his apostles and their successors (Mt 10:8; Mk 3:5; Lk 9:1). Although God allows some people to experience diabolical oppression, he provides several means of powerful aid for them. God not only gave his Church many effective sacramental powers to help her cope against Satan’s deadly activities; since the beginning, he also chose the Most Holy Virgin Mary as a permanent antidote to the enmity between mankind and Satan (see Candido Amantini, Il mistero di Maria [Naples: Dehoniane, 1971]). The majority of contemporary writers—Catholic theologians included—do not deny the existence of Satan and the other rebellious angels but discount the extent of their influence upon human affairs. Indeed, in many quarters to discredit physical diabolical influence is considered a duty and proof of wisdom. Contemporary culture as a whole believes that to credit anything other than natural factors for events and occurrences all around us is an old-fashioned illusion. It is obvious that this belief greatly helps the work of the evil one, especially as it is shared by those who are entrusted with the task and the power to hinder his foul activities. If instead of following contemporary culture we followed Sacred Scripture, theology, and daily experience, we would be convinced that there are great numbers of unhappy people who are possessed by demons and that science can offer them very little help indeed. In the majority of instances, those who are able to recognize the symptoms that are commonly associated with demonic activity can prudently diagnose a case of “demonopathy”—this is the term for every diabolical influence. An illness that is associated with even the lowest levels of demonic activity is peculiarly resistant to every known prescription drug. In contrast, even illnesses that are considered mortal are mysteriously healed by religious interventions. Often the victims of an evil spirit believe that they are persecuted by bad luck: they see their life as a series of misfortunes. Today, science admits that some behavior is caused by abnormal factors and calls “paranormal” all inexplicable actions performed by those possessed by demons. Many people are seeking to find the causes of these phenomena. We do not try to deny scientific progress; we merely state that we deny reality if we delude ourselves that science can explain everything and that we can trace every illness to normal activities. Very few scientists seriously believe in the possibility that unknown, intelligent, and incorporeal powers can cause certain phenomena. Rare is the doctor who will admit that he may be dealing with a different set of causes when faced with patients whose symptoms and clinical tests are unexplainable. If they are confronted with the unexplainable, many people will appeal to Freud rather than call an exorcist to help. As a result, the condition of these unfortunate patients does not improve but becomes worse. Father Amorth’s brief and clear book allows the reader to witness the activities of the exorcist. These pages do not attempt to explain the theory of the existence of demons and of demonic possession or to reach doctrinal conclusions. They merely let the facts speak for themselves by allowing the reader to experience what an exorcist sees and does. I know how much the author loves the priests of the Church who have been entrusted by Christ with the power to expel demons in his name. I am confident that this book will be beneficial to many of them and that it may inspire others to write about their experiences on the same subject. Father Candido Amantini AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION When the Pope’s Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Ugo Poletti, unexpectedly granted me the faculty of exorcist, I did not guess the immensity of the world that he had opened up to me or the multitudes who would flock to my ministry. I was initially assigned as assistant to Father Candido Amantini, a Passionist priest, who was a renowned and expert exorcist. Those in need of his help would come from all parts of Italy, and often from abroad, to his headquarters, the church of the Holy Staircase in Rome. This assignment was a great grace to me; I believe that Father Candido was the only person in the world who could claim an experience of thirty-six years as a full-time exorcist. I could not have had a better teacher, and I thank him for the infinite patience with which he introduced me to this ministry. I discovered something else. There are very few exorcists in Italy, even fewer who are well prepared, and fewer still in other countries.

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