Exorcism

Benjamin Radford: The new Exorcist film (Exorcist: The Beginning) scared up some $18.2 million on its opening but has garnered universally horrific reviews so far. The original story was allegedly “Based on a True Story!” It is a fair question to ask for some historical accuracy when a film (or book) is touted as having been based on real events. After all, if the story is too fictionalized, why bother to go with the “ripped-from-the-headlines” angle, except for marketing purposes? The “real story” behind The Exorcist is a long and complicated one, but I’ll give the short version and direct readers to all the gory (and not-so-gory) details for further reading. Thereare a number of “this is the REAL story” accounts out there; most of them are simply rehashed and poorly researched books and articles looking to cash in on the film’s success.

The script for The Exorcist was written by William Peter Blatty, adapted from his best-selling 1971 novel of the same name. In fact, Blatty won an Academy Award for his script (Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium). Cashing in on The Exorcist gravy train, Blatty quickly followed up with his memoir about writing the book, this one titled William Peter Blatty On The Exorcist From Novel to Film. In it, he described the inspiration for the film: a 1949 Washington Post article he’d read as a grad student when he was at Georgetown University. The piece, which ran August 20, told of a 14-year-old boyfrom nearby Mount Rainier, Maryland, who had undergone an exorcism. Many of the myths surrounding The Exorcist film and “real story” came about because of “the mystic twaddle Blatty gave out to the press while pushing his book” (Kim Mohan quoted in his book Nightmare Movies, p. 43). Blatty had a career and book to promote, and was not above embellishing the story with partly (and wholly) fictional elements. Of course, the film was not a documentary, but Blatty strongly suggested that the film stuck more or less to reality.

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In a small room, well away from the street so that no one hears the screams, Father Gabriele Amorth does battle with Satan. He is a busy man.As the Vatican's top exorcist, Amorth performs the mysterious, ancient ritual dozens of times a week. A confused world engulfed in tragedy and chaos is turning increasingly to black magic, the occult and fortune-telling, he said, proof that the devil and his handmaidens are having a field day."These customs open the door to evil spirits and to demonic possessions," Amorth said. "Exorcism is God's true miracle."The practice of exorcism — driving demons and evil spiritsfrom people or places — has been experiencing a renaissance of late, from Europe to the Americas to Africa.In part, the rite owes its popularity to people's need to believe that the devil is real, philosophers say, and that it is possible to get rid of him.In Italy, the number of exorcists has increased more than tenfold in the last decade to about 300.

This year, one of the country's largest archdioceses established a special task force to handle the growing demand for devil detox.Amorth is arguably the world's most famous practitioner of exorcism and certainly its greatest promoter.He co-founded the International Assn. of Exorcists, an organization of priests that meets in secrecy every two years, and he remains its president emeritus. Author of numerousbooks on the subject, he has had a hand in recruiting, training or inspiring most of today's exorcists.Amorth said his calendar is always full. "I have three this afternoon," he said matter-of-factly recently.With little prompting, he whipped out his equipment, sheathed in a weathered leather bag that is always at his side: a silver and wooden crucifix, an aspergillum for sprinkling holy water and a container of baptismal oil.

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Residents in Muang Ngor village are anxiously waiting to see whether an exorcism held on Thursday can restore peace to their hamlet, which has been shaken by reports that many of their neighbours are possessed by evil spirits. Since the beginning of April, four villagers have been hospitalised suffering from hysterical behaviour allegedly due to possession, village headman Boonrit Duangkosoom said. "Doctors cannot explain what's happened to them. Physically, they are not ill," Boonrit said. Thosepossessed would suddenly break down in tears, sob uncontrollably, complain of headaches and become delirious before losing consciousness, he added.

"When they wake up, they can't remember what they did, said or how strange their behaviour had been," Boonrit said. Nualla-orng Lonlua, 36, who has manifested the symptoms several times, said that she felt she had been possessed. "I developed a headache and chest pain before losing consciousness. When I came to I was in hospital and doctors said I was physically fine," she said. Boonrit said the hospitalisation of people such as Nualla-orng had worried other villagers so muchthat they had agreed to contribute to an "exorcism fund" totalling Bt15,530. Urai Dangchaiyaphum, 50, a resident who witnessed the exorcism, said most residents were hoping the ritual would save their village from evil, though they do not fully believe in exorcism. "We are waiting to see what happens after the ritual," she said.

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Faced with growing demand for exorcisms, Catholic Church leaders in the Italian city of Genoa have created a taskforce of doctors and priests to determine when the devil is at work and when psychiatric help is needed. The team of three priests, one psychiatrist, one psychologist and one neurologist -- dubbed the "anti-Satan pool" by Italian media -- will work on a case-by-case basis, a local church official said in a telephone interview on Thursday."They'll meet on a regular basis to determine when there has been a case of demonic possession and call for an exorcist, or problems better cared for by a psychologist," said the official, who asked not to be named.

For Catholics, exorcism is the casting out of what is believed to be an evil spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands. One of the church's leading exorcists praised the initiative, saying medical experts are needed to rule out mental problems before spiritual work can begin. "I never accept anyone who arrives without a medical certificate," FatherGabriele Amorth told Corriere della Sera newspaper. The Genoa taskforce was created by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. The official Catholic exorcism starts with prayers, the blessing and sprinkling of holy water, the laying of hands on the possessed, and the making of the sign of the cross.

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