Exorcism in Christianity

ARE you afraid of the Devil? The world's most famous exorcist levels his gaze at me and then smiles.

"No, it is he who is afraid of me. I work in the name of the Lord. Poor Satan."

Poor Satan?

"Oh yes. The Evil One shouts and makes noises, but we are made in God's image, we have the Holy Trinity on our side. There is no need to be afraid of the Devil unless we give in to his temptations."

We are in the infirmary of the Society of St Paul, the order of Fr Gabriele Amorth, in the shadow of St Paul's Basilica, Rome. The Vatican's chief exorcist was taken to hospital last autumn with a blood infection and is now convalescing -- "they found nothing serious". Perhaps it was the Devil who laid him low? "Oh no -- just an illness. He has more serious evil to perform."

Fr Amorth made headlines this week by suggesting that those who had "given in to Satan's temptations" included paedophile priests and even some cardinals and bishops who paid only lip service to the Gospel.

The growing crisis over the clerical sex abuse now engulfing Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican, he said, was the work of Satan, who had even "infiltrated the Vatican corridors".

Is the sex abuse crisis really due to the Devil?

"Oh yes. All evil is due to the intervention of the Devil, including paedophilia."

And the Vatican? "Legions of demons have lodged there. The majority of those in the Vatican do good work. But Pope Paul VI talked about the 'smoke of Satan' infiltrating the Vatican as long ago as 1972. Satan sets out to damage the leadership of the church -- and of politics, industry and sport, for that matter."

And although all manner of incidents, scandals and misdemeanours in Italy and abroad leap to mind as potential evidence of diabolical intervention, he declines to give examples.

Fr Amorth -- or Don Gabriele, as he is universally known -- has just published 'The Memoirs of an Exorcist', a book of interviews with Marco Tosatti, the Vatican journalist. In a style that is somewhat reminiscent of a medieval chronicle, he describes his often hair-raising experiences over the past quarter of a century in the front line against the Evil One and his minions.

Now nearly 85 and honorary president of the International Association of Exorcists, he fought for the Resistance in the Second World War, took a law degree but then entered the church. He began conducting exorcisms shortly after his ordination 60 years ago; in 1986 he was appointed by Cardinal Ugo Poletti, then the Vicar of Rome, as assistant to Father Candido Amantini, the chief exorcist, eventually succeeding him.

Now frail, he becomes animated as he describes his life-long struggle with demons who possess the bodies of their victims, at one stage spreading his arms wide to show me the length of one particular demon occupying the body of a woman he had "liberated".

He talks to Lucifer and his demons, he says, and knows their names. On the writing table in his room he keeps pictures of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, "who came into the world to fight the Devil and return us to God". But the modern world, he says, has "given in to the Evil One. You see it in the lack of faith, the empty churches, the collapse of the family."

"Compare the world of today to when I was a boy in Modena: families and parish communities were strong, women did not go out to work. Now they have to because one income cannot support a family. So young people are left to their own devices, they get into bad company, they have lost their roots and replaced them with the negative influences of television and the internet, or the occult."

What about those who believe in neither God nor Satan? "The Devil is only too happy to take advantage of those who do not believe in his existence. It means he can operate with complete freedom, even inside the church. He exploits lust and power."

The Devil tries to reach all of us, Fr Amorth adds, and "the possessed are those who listen to him most. Mind you, they are a minority. If you read my book you might get the impression the whole world is possessed, but I am describing a small number of cases, comparatively speaking."

His claim to have carried out 70,000 exorcisms seems incredible. "But I was talking about the number of exorcisms, not the number of people exorcised. You often have to exorcise someone dozens, even hundreds, of times, and an exorcism ritual can take anything from a few minutes to several hours."

Exorcism can only be done with the approval of the local bishop, usually after medical or psychiatric tests show no rational explanation for the symptoms, which include vomiting, violent headaches and stomach cramps but also superhuman strength, fits and extreme aversion to holy symbols.

He is adept, he says, at distinguishing hysterics from the real thing. There are more women than men among the possessed, "but we don't know why. There are various explanations: Satan taking revenge on the Virgin Mary, or using women as a means of reaching men. None of them is convincing."

The possessed talk in languages they do not know, including ancient tongues such as Aramaic, the language of Christ. "Sometimes the language is incomprehensible. I once asked a demon what it was and he said, 'Satanic language'."

The victims often react so violently to the ritual of prayers, incantations, holy water and the sign of the cross that they have to be held or tied down while the priest touches the possessed person with his stole and places his hand on his or her head.

In many cases, he says, they vomit objects such as nails or glass. Fr Amorth has a collection weighing 2kg. "You get used to being vomited over. I once performed an exorcism on a woman who hit me in the face with a stream of vomit from the other side of the room -- physically impossible."

The Devil, he says, is humourless but does sometimes play tricks. He and his demons speak through the victim, sometimes using their normal voice but sometimes in hoarse, raucous tones. He imitates the unnerving low growl for me. But they are not visible, any more than angels are.

"Angels exist -- they are pure spirit. We all have guardian angels. Demons are, of course, fallen angels who rebelled against God; that is why they are so intelligent, and so arrogant."

Fr Amorth has no designated successor, and complains that even now the church hierarchy does not take exorcism -- or the Devil -- seriously enough. But "the Lord has made use of me" and his example has inspired many other priests -- as did the 1973 film 'The Exorcist', which, although "exaggerated", was "substantially true".

At his age does he still have the stomach for the battle with Satan? "Oh yes. I have work to do." (© The Times, London)