by Matt Baglio
Once he'd been called out by a parishioner who asked that he bless her house after her daughter had a nightmare and saw a shadow on the wall of her windowless room. Of course, he had talked to the girl before performing the blessing, but had he dealt with the situation in the right way? Now he would know to ask if she might have dabbled with anything such as a Ouija board or tried casting spells downloaded from a Web site.
At the same time Father Gary didn't want to make people paranoid or belittle their problems by pointing to a computer or a deck of tarot cards and saying, “Aha!” The key to the problem, he realized, was not the Ouija board or tarot cards per se, but the person's desire to seek knowledge through them. More often than not this pointed to a weak faith life. As one speaker in the course had said, “Where faith decreases, superstition grows.” For Father Gary, that statement rang true.
THE CASA SANTA MARIA is a sixteenth-century convent located in the heart of downtown Rome. The building had served as stables for the French Calvary when Napoleon had occupied the city; but in 1859, Pope Pius IX had given it over to the American bishops, who had it converted into the original NAC. When the NAC was moved to its present location, the Casa became a residence for American clergy studying in Rome.
Father Gary moved to the Casa in late November, after finishing the continuing education program at the NAC. Sandwiched between Piazza dell'Oratorio on one side and Piazza della Pilotta on the other, the five-story building—almost as large as half a city block—is deceptively tucked away from the noisy streets of Rome. Were it not for a gold plaque stuck to the wall of its rust-colored exterior, one wouldn't know it existed at all.
Once inside, however, the picture was decidedly different, with trickling fountains, long breezy colonnades, and open courtyards offering an almost Zen-like tranquillity. Father Gary had no trouble settling into his new home among seventy-five priests from around the English-speaking world.
As at the NAC, most of the priests were students and kept a busy schedule, attending lectures at the nearby Gregorian University all morning or spending time in their rooms, noses buried in books about canon law. Pranzo, or lunch, was the big meal of the day. The priests dined in the large refectory under a fresco-covered ceiling, served by waiters wearing white jackets and ties. Afterward the staff would set out trays of cookies in an adjoining tea room.
For most of the priests, the centerpiece of their daily schedule was mass in the small Romanesque church located adjacent to the dining hall. For Father Gary, concelebrating mass in the tiny church alongside his fellow priests was an incredibly enjoyable experience.
Father Gary already knew a few priests from the States and made new friends quickly. Still, because all were on tight schedules, they had little time to socialize, something Father Gary would later lament. “It was fun to be there; but unless you really reached out, you could easily get lost in that place or be dead for a few days before anyone noticed.” In order to combat this forced loneliness, a few priests had formed a group (aptly named the “Lonely Hearts Club”), which got together once a week to go out to dinner. Father Gary happily joined.
SINCE HE WAS TAKING ONLY TWO CLASSES—in the late fall he'd begun his twice-a-week course at the Angelicum on the Eastern spiritual masters—he had plenty of time to read about exorcism, which he usually did in the mornings.
There were a few religious bookshops that he would frequent along Via della Conciliazione—the wide, majestic avenue filled with Vatican offices, churches, and religious memorabilia shops that runs from the Castle of Saint Angelo to Saint Peter's Square. Many of the books were in Italian or Latin, but a few bookshops, such as the Ancora, had a decent English section tucked away in a tiny atticlike space upstairs. He soon found out that while it was easy to find a book on Thomistic philosophy, it wasn't so easy to find one on exorcism.
Instead, most of his research was done at the NAC library. Located on the second floor of the massive seminary, the library had the largest collection of English language books in Rome (over 64,000), including huge sections on reference, theology, and Church history.
Gracious and down to earth, Sister Rebecca personified the Norman Rockwell image of a librarian—conservatively dressed, short curly blondish-white hair, and a pair of glasses dangling from her neck on a long brown strap. A Benedictine from a parish in Indiana, she had been serving at the NAC for eleven years when Father Gary walked through the door. Yet in all those years, she couldn't recall being asked about exorcism. “Father Gary told me he had been nominated as an exorcist and that he didn't know anything about it,” she says. “I thought exorcism wasn't real.”
Nonetheless, being the accommodating soul that she was, she gladly helped him locate a few titles.
Most of the books were somewhat outdated when it came to exorcism, some written in the 1930s. Because of his skeptical nature, Father Gary preferred books by writers not inclined to see demons around every corner, or blame all the world's evils on the Devil. One book, Diabolical Possession and Exorcism, was by Father John Nicola, an American priest and theologian who for many years was an advisor to the American Catholic bishops on exorcism, as well as a technical advisor for the 1973 film The Exorcist. Father Nicola's book stood out for its measured approach, describing how science and religion must work in concert, and how an exorcism should be considered only as a last resort. Father Nicola writes: “Whenever I express a fear and unwillingness to act as an exorcist, I get letters from people assuring me that they have successfully cast out many demons and that, as long as one relies on the power of Christ, there is no need to fear the demons. It is my conviction that they are thinking of something entirely different from what I am. Solemn public exorcisms are rarely performed in modern times in the Western world. When they are performed, they are as gruesome and ugly as anything in the world.” Such passages, when coupled with the information from the lectures he was attending, gave Father Gary an increasingly clearer understanding of the scope of the demonic, at least in the abstract.
CHAPTER SIX
IN MY NAME
The Devil takes advantage of all the possibilities he has to act in the world, hoping to carry as many people as possible with him to eternal damnation. This is because of the hate he harbors for God and for mankind. He would destroy the good in the world in any possible way but we are protected by the action of God, Mary, the angels, and Saints, all of whom put limits on his actions.
—Father Francesco Bamonte
Father Gabriele Nanni remembers the first time he ever saw an exorcism. It was 1997 and he had just been ordained a priest and was working in a parish near L'Aquila, a city east of Rome. A young married couple approached him to ask for help. Strange things were happening to the woman daily and her problems had worsened since they'd married. She suffered from numerous illnesses—stomachaches, headaches, and pains in her joints that would incapacitate her. No pain medication helped, nor did the series of doctors who diagnosed one thing and then another. Even stranger, the objects in her house had begun moving around on their own. On one occasion the lid of a pot had levitated above the stove and then clanged to the floor. Theologically, Father Nanni believed in the reality of demonic possession, but he had no experience in the matter. He decided to take the couple to the diocesan exorcist.
Waiting outside the exorcist's office with the couple, Father Nanni remembers hearing the screams of people inside. The howling and screeching that he was hearing, he realized, was coming from a demon.
When it came time for the couple's turn, Father Nanni watched in shock as the woman's arms and legs flailed and her eyes rolled upward into her head, revealing only the whites. Clearly, something was going on here; but he wasn't sure if he was seeing the work of a demon. After a month of weekly sessions, however, the “voice” finally materialized when the demon cursed the exorcist with tremendous hatred. The demon also contorted the woman's body in unnatural ways, twisting her hands into knotted claws. On another occasion she threw herself on the floor and extended he
r body backward, forming the letter 0.
These experiences had a profound effect on Father Nanni. The night after witnessing the demon for the first time, he lay awake in bed, unable to sleep. He felt “impressed,” “awed” by what he'd seen, and had a million questions. His eyes had been opened to a new reality, one that had given him a “palpable” sense of the theology he had studied in the seminary. “When you are outside these experiences, you have only an abstract idea of the spiritual world,” says Father Nanni. “Many priests talk about theoretical things, they have faith but they are intellectuals. The spirit is something that exists for them but it is difficult to treat him as a person; usually they are just concepts.” According to Father Nanni, many theological discussions would have a different outcome if such things were taken into account. “Through being an exorcist I understood that there is much more to the faith than what we think… there is an almost objective, almost material [level].” Unable to shake this strong impression, he approached his bishop to ask if he could be appointed as an exorcist himself.
Tall, urbane, with fair skin and short gray hair, Father Nanni, at age forty-six, gave the impression of a sophisticated and learned man— perhaps a bank president or CEO were he given a suit to wear rather than the traditional black clerics. Born in 1959 in Forli, he would eventually get a degree in philosophy at the University of Bologna and a doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontificia Università Lateranense, writing his thesis on the Church laws that regulate exorcism. He speaks several languages—Italian, French, and Spanish—and is the author of the book Il dito Di Dio e il potere di Satana: L'esorcismo (The Finger of God and the Power of Satan: Exorcism), which was published by the Vatican in 2004. He is also a frequent TV commentator on the recent spate of satanic murders and has even appeared in a documentary on exorcism done by National Geographic.
Patient, contemplative, and highly educated, Father Nanni is part of a new wave—which also includes Father Francesco Bamonte—that forms the perfect counterpart to the raving fundamentalists featured in popular media whose demagoguery and fear-mongering have done so much to tarnish the image of exorcists. It was specifically for this reason that the course organizers had asked him to speak.
As always, the lecture began with the students standing and saying a Hail Mary along with the Lord's Prayer. For Father Gary and the few other priests who would go on to become exorcists, today's lecture would provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Father Nanni, used to speaking in front of large groups, was completely at ease, accustomed to the microphone.
THE CATECHISM MENTIONS EXORCISM ONLY ONCE, in paragraph 1673, stating, among other things, “When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism … Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church.” According to the Church, exorcism is a sacramental, which by definition means it signifies effects associated with the intercession of the Church.
There are only two types of recognized exorcisms: “simple” and “major.” As stated in the Catechism, “In a simple form, exorcism is performed at the celebration of Baptism. The solemn exorcism, called ‘a major exorcism,’ can be performed only by a priest and with the permission of the bishop” (1673).
Today, many people confuse the rite of exorcism with the practice of prayers of deliverance, which any Christian can recite. According to the Christian deliverance minister Francis MacNutt, exorcism “is a formal ecclesiastical prayer to free a person possessed by evil spirits,” while deliverance “is a process, mainly through prayer, of freeing a person who is oppressed or infested by evil spirits but not possessed.”
While it's technically true that any priest can perform an exorcism, not every priest should. Guideline thirteen of the Ritual states that the bishop can only nominate a priest who is “distinguished in piety, learning, prudence, and integrity of life.” In addition, “The priest […] should carry out this work of charily confidently and humbly under the guidance of the Ordinary.”
With all these conditions, it may seem odd that in the early days of Christianity there weren't any officially appointed exorcists. The thought then was that any Christian could perform an exorcism because this power was derived specifically from Christ; “And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons” (Mark 16:17). Gradually, however, thanks to the expanded role that exorcism played in the rite of baptism as well as to combat perceived abuses, the order of exorcist was established. The earliest mention of the office of exorcist is perhaps in a letter written by Pope Cornelius (251-252) stating that in the Church of Rome there were fifty-two exorcists, lectors, and doorkeepers. Around the fourth century a series of steps were taken to give the bishops more control over the nominating process. The Council of Laodicea in the middle of the fourth century established a canon prohibiting all individuals from performing an exorcism unless appointed by their bishop.
The importance of the nomination by the bishop comes from the power of the prayer being tied to the Church as well as to the obedience of the exorcist. As the current president of the International Association of Exorcists, Father Giancarlo Gramolazzo, says, “I always use this phrase: The prince of disobedience is the Devil and you beat him by being obedient, not by your own personality, or charisms.” According to Father Gramolazzo, if a priest were to perform an exorcism without the approval of his bishop, the prayers would still work to some extent because of the power of Jesus Christ's name, but they wouldn't have the same effect on the demon because essentially the exorcist would be praying the Ritual in a state of disobedience and the demon would know it. “Some priests have tried to perform an exorcism without the bishop's permission and the demon said to them, ‘You cannot do it, you are outside your diocese and you don't have permission,’” says Father Gramolazzo.
In the beginning, the actual “rite” of exorcism was pretty simple and consisted of the laying on of hands, the invocation of Jesus’ name, the sign of the cross, and fasting. Later, in the third century, the practice of blowing on the person or “exsufflation” was added. In fact, rather than relying on a complicated formula, the Fathers of the Church stressed the need for simplicity. Saint Athanasius, the Bishop of Alexandria (who died about 373), notes in a letter to Marcellinus that an exorcist who uses complicated or lengthy invocations runs the risk of being ridiculed by the demons.
Statuta Ecclesiae Latinae, a collection of Church legislation that was issued about the year 500, contains one of the earliest official formulas for exorcism. Over the years, the rite developed primarily in localized form in “libelli”—small pamphlets consisting of only a few pages. Finally, prompted by a combination of widespread abuses (exorcists incorporating their own gestures, incantations, and even medicines) and a growing climate of superstition during the Middle Ages, the diverse formulas were compiled into the Roman Ritual, first published in 1614.
Since then, the Ritual has gone through a few adjustments, including a minor one in 1952 and a major one in 1998. The 1998 Revised Ritual, known in Latin as De exorcismis et supplicationibus quibusdam, begins with an introductory section followed by the guidelines, after which the exorcist is to recite the litany of the saints, a few gospel and Psalm readings, and if he so chooses, a homily. At the core of the Ritual lie the prayers of exorcism themselves, which are broken up into two sections, known commonly as “deprecatory” and “imperative.” The difference between these two is extremely important, say exorcists. In a deprecatory prayer, the exorcist entreats God to intervene on behalf of the person; the prayer begins “Hear, Holy Father …,” while in the imperative prayer, the exorcist himself commands the demon to depart in the name of Jesus Christ, “I adjure you, Satan…” or “I cast you out.” Since the imperative formula is not really a prayer but a command, and a highly suggestive one
at that, the Revised Ritual stipulates that an exorcist may use it only when he is “morally certain” that the person he is praying over is possessed.
To follow the Ritual straight through from start to finish would probably take forty-five minutes to an hour. In truth, however, few exorcists pray it this way, often intermingling Psalms of their own choosing or “spontaneous” exorcism prayers (“I cast you out, spirit of fakeness”), all of which is based on their experience.
“I never follow the Ritual exactly the way it is organized in the book,” says Canadian exorcist Father Frangois Dermine, O.P. “You can't follow the Ritual like that with a reading from the Bible and then the litany. It comes as it comes, depending on the reaction of the person. I remember one time with one person, as soon as I started to pray the person went under possession and in that case, there is not really the time to read the Bible and stuff like that. You have to pray.”
Father Amorth believes that every exorcist must find his strengths and weaknesses and what works best for him. He gives this example: “One exorcist I know who performs exorcisms down at San Giovanni Rotondo is also the postulator of the cause of beatification of a Capuchin, Father Matteo, who lived four hundred years ago. He prays to Father Matteo all the time, and when he invokes him during an exorcism, the demons become very furious. Personally, I tried several times to invoke Father Matteo but nothing happens. This means that every exorcist learns what for him is more efficient.” Also, since every demon is said to have a different reaction, the exorcist needs to be able to find out which parts of the prayer hurt the demon the most. However, this doesn't mean that the exorcist can just do or say what he wants.
