An account of a "real" exorcism by Fr Gabriel Amorth

William Friedkin was the director of The Exorcist.

He said he was invited by top Catholic exorcist Fr Gabriel Amorth “to shoot and video an actual exorcism. I am not talking about some cult, I am talking about an exorcism by the Catholic church in Rome.”

In due course the filming took place in May 2016.

The possessed person was a youngish woman who is known to us as Rosa. She had endured eight exorcisms up to then since August the previous year.

Amorth took four priests who he described as burly with him and some others. Obviously they were prepared to play rough!

The priest claims he always tells people to go and get help from traditional psychiatry first. That is an odd thing for a truly Catholic person to recommend. Psychiatry takes no account of the Catholic faith and in ignoring it implies it is against it.

Here are some telling selections from Friedkin's account of the May 2016 exorcism.

Padre Pio, the charlatan saint was invoked to help! It is Christian teaching that nobody helps but God so to pray to a saint or god achieves nothing but harms the victim by failing to help when help is urgently needed.

“Rosa’s head began to nod involuntarily. Her eyes rolled back, and she fell into a deep trance. Father Amorth spoke in Latin in a loud, clear voice, using the Roman ritual of Paul V, from 1614. He asked the Lord to set her free from demonic infestation. “EXORCIZO DEO IMMUNDISSIMUS SPIRITUS.” (I exorcize, O God, this unclean spirit.)”

So we are led to believe those things are signs that the demon was inside and ready to be communicated with!! What if the demon was not there at that time? And he is encouraging her to think it is there when it is not. And he tells it he exorcises it. He does not if it is not there and if it has been there for months and he has been telling it he was exorcising it then what? Sorry what kind of "I exorcise thee" is that when the demon has not budged?

“Rosa’s body began to throb, and she cried out, before falling back into a trance. Father Amorth placed his right hand over her heart. “INFER TIBI LIBERA.” (Set yourself free.)”

He blames her for the demons alleged presence.

“She lost consciousness. “TIME SATANA INIMICI FIDEM.” (Be afraid of Satan and the enemies of faith.)”

Intimidation of the vulnerable woman.

“Without warning, Rosa began to thrash violently. The five male helpers had all they could do to hold her down. A foam formed at her lips.”

No mental hospital would allow it to be necessary for strong men to hold a patient down. This is abuse.  And no medics are on standby.

“SANCTISSIMO DOMINE MIGRA.” (Let him go, O God Almighty.) Rosa did not speak or understand Latin, but she thrust forward and screamed in Father Amorth’s face: “MAI!!” (Never!!)

It was easy enough to learn enough to pose as a demon.
Another voice from deep within her shouted in his face: “DON’T TOUCH HER! DON’T EVER TOUCH HER!!” Her eyes were still closed. Father Amorth yelled, “CEDE! CEDE!” (Surrender!)

She reacted violently: “IO SONO SATANA.” (I am Satan.)
“RECEDE ERGO NUNC!” (Leave her now.)

“MAAAAAAAIIIIIII!”

“Answer me!”

“NO!!” “SATANA! SATANA!”

“How many demons are you?”

“Eighty legions!”

“IN NOMINE DEO QUANDO TU EXIS?” (In the name of God, when are you leaving?)

“MAAAAAAI!!!” And then, “SHE IS MINE! SHE BELONGS TO ME!”

“She belongs to Jesus Christ!”

“WE ARE AN ARMY!!!!”

“Requie creatue Dei” (Rest, creature of God), Father Amorth said quietly.

"Rosa slowly awoke and sat up. She was disheveled and had no memory of what had happened. One of the priests led her into a corner as her mother received a blessing from Father Amorth. Suddenly Rosa began to rage again, cursing and screaming, while one man held her firmly by the neck and another held her legs. Gradually she returned to a normal state and, in fact, seemed beatific to me."

Rosa obviously could act as if the demon had gone.  It makes more sense to hold there was no demon there!

“I asked her if she had been treated by physicians or psychoanalysts. “It was useless to go to doctors,” she replied. “My problem is caused by evil spirits.”

Useless is very strong. It is too strong. If there are demons present then there will be psychological issues as well. You would go mad without any help from the demon if there were one inside you.

I asked Rosa if she felt better after the exorcism. “Each time, it feels like I’m becoming free. I can feel the Devil suffering inside me,” she said.

Exorcism is cruel to Satan. And she is lying about feeling more free. How could she when nine exorcisms did nothing for her?

Exorcism according to Catechism of the Catholic Church is, “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. Jesus performed exorcisms and from him the Church has received the power and office of exorcizing. 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. The priest must proceed with prudence, strictly observing the rules established by the Church. 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. Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different matter; treating this is the concern of medical science. Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness.”(Catechism of the Catholic Church 1673).

Nothing we have read establishes that she probably was possessed.