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 The Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall passes through downtown Wapakoneta Wednesday, September 1. Staff photo/William Laney By CARLA MEYER
Staff Writer
For 45 minutes, the roar of motorcycles could be heard passing under an American flag hanging from two ladder trucks. For 45 minutes, area residents gathered in the shadow of the Auglaize County Courthouse and Wapakoneta Fire Station waved and clapped as motorcyclists rode by.
The smiles and waves turned into clapping and cheers as the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall passed down Willipie Street on its way to Custenborder Field in Sidney where it was greeted by a field of American flags.
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The Exorcist: Casting out demons |
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Thursday, 15 October 2009 |
 The 1973 film “The Exorcist” has terrified movie-goers for decades with its graphic representation of the demonic possession of a teenage girl. Exorcisms are real-life events, but Catholic priests say the act is a far cry from Hollywood’s portrayal. AP photo By KAREN CAMPBELL
Assistant Managing Editor
One of the most terrifying horror flicks of all-time for many movie-goers is so troubling because the film graphically protrays the epic struggle between human lives and demonic forces.
Priests continue to perform exorcisms today, but their frequency and severity are reportedly far from the Hollywood version first depicted in “The Exorcist” in 1973.
Ridding a human of diabolic possession is typically associated with Roman Catholic beliefs, such as in the film which centered around a 12-year-old girl whose head spun around, her body went into convulsions, and her demonic voice spewed curses and obscenities at battered priests fighting the devil to save her soul. The story is supposed to be loosely based on a real-life exorcism performed in 1949 on a 13-year-old boy from Cottage City, Md..
But after seeing the movie, many have been left wondering if exorcisms are real, if someone can be truly possessed, if the “victim” and the exorcist are unconsciously acting out roles, or if there are other explanations for what has become known as possession.
Faith and beliefs
“The Catholic Church has always and will always be clear that the devil, Satan, ‘Father of Lies’ and the ‘Prince of Darkness’ exists,” said the Rev. Pat Sloneker, pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church. “He is a fallen angel who separated himself from God. The reality is Satan exists.”
He said in every dio-
ceses there is an exorcist, a tradition that has been practiced in the church since the beginning, but exorcisms are nothing like they are protrayed in “The Exorcist,” the movie.
“Generally speaking, while I’m not an expert on formal exorcisms, there’s a great deal of prayer involved, fasting and talking,” Sloneker said. “The church continues to practice it.”
Casting out the devil is not part of a typical priest’s daily duties and most priests have never performed an exorcism, according to the Discovery Channel.
Worldwide there are estimated to be between 150 and 300 exorcists. Less than a dozen are reported to be in the United States.
Traditionally, Catholic exorcists undergo little specific training as exorcism is not a specialized area of study in seminary. What they know, they know from their role of the priest and the rite of exorcism, the official document detailing the prayers and steps of an exorcism, according to the Discovery Channel.
Sloneker said the church warns flocks against spiritualism and dabbling in things against Christ, such as Ouija boards.
Minor exorcisms are performed as part of baptisms in the church to cast out any evil influences.
“It’s not a choice a person or baby has made, but part of being born into a world with evil,” Sloneker said.
The Prayer of Exorcism read as part of the Rite of Baptism reads:
“Almighty and ever-living God, you sent your only Son into the world to cast out the power of Satan, spirit of evil, to rescue man from the kingdom of darkness, and bring him into the splendor of your kingdom of light. We pray for this child: set him (her) free from original sin, make him (her) a temple of your glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell with him (her.) (We ask this) through Christ our Lord.”
Following the prayer, the child is anointed with the oil of catechumens.
The minor exorcism is performed prior to the celebration of sacrament and the baptism with holy water.
Before exorcism
The Catholic Encyclopedia defines exorcism as “the act of driving out or warding off demons or evil spirits from persons, places or things which are believed to be possessed or infested by them, or are liable to become victims or instruments of their malice.”
In addition to baptismal exorcisms, the Roman Catholic Church recognizes simple exorcisms, which bless a place or thing to rid it of evil influence, and real exorcisms, for which the Rite of Exorcism is performed to rid a human being of diabolical possession.
According to the church, tell-tale signs of demonic possession include speaking or understanding languages which the person has never learned, knowing and revealing things the person has no earthly way of knowing, physical strength beyond the person’s natural physical make-up, and a violent aversion to God, the Virgin Mary, the cross and other images of the Catholic faith.
Catholics are not the only ones performing exorcisms.
Judaism, Islam and Hinduism all have their own methods for casting out the devil and a Google search turns up ads for commercial exorcists who claim to have many years of experience and have successfully performed tens of thousands of exorcisms.
But the Roman Catholic Church claims true demonic possession is more rare, with only approximately one of every 5,000 reported cases being real.
Ministries have been springing up in the last couple decades to perform exorcisms for profit.
Bob Larson Ministries even boasts online televised weekly conferences and mass exorcisms for which large groups receive a family rate on tickets as he exorcises the demons from an auditorium full of people. One of the biggest debates around exorcisms is whether there are explanations such as mental illness for behavior being considered as evidence of demonic possession.
Several psychological disorders, including Tourette syndrome and schizophrenia may produce these types of effects in people. Psychological issues also may cause a person to act out the role of a possessed person to gain attention.
“Not everything can be attributed to the devil,” Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez told the press in 1999 when he introduced the New Rite of Exorcisms. When someone reports a possible case of possession to the church, an investigation begins.
The Rev. Benedict Groeschel, who was called on by the archdiocese of New York in the 1970s and 1980s to investigate exorcisms, wrote in the “American Exorcism” that of all the people brought before him, none of them
See DEMONS, Page 7A
needed a formal exorcism, but it did not mean they were not being oppressed or afflicted in various ways by demonic presences and that could usually be dealt with by a prayer of deliverance.
Often priests consult psychiatrists to investigate possible mental illness and medical doctors to rule out physical illness as part of investigations.
The history of possession and exorcism dates back to ancient times, possibly beginning with early shamanistic beliefs in which spirits of the dead could do harm to the living, according to reports from the Discovery Channel.
Performing an exorcism
A former Jesuit priest and self-proclaimed exorcist, Malachi Martin, wrote in “Hostage to the Devil” that he considers there to be four stages of an exorcism –– pretense, where the demon hides its true identity; breakpoint, where the demon reveals himself; clash, during which the exorcist and the demon fight for the soul of the possessed; and expulsion, when the demon leaves the body of the possessed if the exorcist wins the battle.
In his book, Martin describes exorcisms he has assisted with comparable to the one in the movie, with similar levels of violence, but the church has criticized those accounts as being sensationalized.
Prior to issuance of a revised exorcism rite in 1999, the official exorcism rite used by Catholic priests dated back to 1614.
During an exorcism, the priest dresses in his surplice and purple stole and conducts a series of prayers, statements and appeals, beginning by asking God to free the subject from the devil and then demanding in the name of God that the devil leave the subject’s body.
He sprinkles holy water on everyone in the room, lays his hands on the subject, makes the sign of the cross both on himself and on the subject and touches the subject with a Catholic relic, usually an object associated with a saint.
According to the official rite, exorcisms are supposed to be low-key, not necessarily secret, but not performed in public or in front of press representatives so that the ritual does not become a show. Results are not to be published whether the exorcism is a success or a failure.
There is documentation of harmful outcomes of exorcisms, including one in June 2005 in Romania, where a priest and several nuns in a convent believed that a 23-year-old nun living there was possessed. As part of an exorcism ritual, they tied her to a cross, pushed a towel into her mouth and left her alone without food and water.
According to reports from CBS News, the intent was to drive out the demon inhabiting her body, but she died after three days. Officials believe she had schizophrenia.
The movie
“The Exorcist” begins in Iraq where while on an archeological dig, the Rev. Merrin feels the call of battle. It seems the dark lord wants a rematch, but it is unclear where this battle may take place until 12-year-old Regan MacNeil begins to play with her new friend, “Captain Howdy.” Without knowing what else to do, her family turns to the church.
The Rev. Karras, a priest, who at the time is questioning his own faith, is called in to do battle with the demons of hell and is later joined by Merrin, at this time a seasoned pro at sparring with the devil.
Holy water and puke fly and Regan commits various acts of blasphemy as the battle of good versus evil rages.
Released Dec. 26, 1973, the movie was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and four Golden Globes. Its wins included best adaptive screenplay and best sound, best director, best film and best supporting actress for Linda Blair’s performance as Regan.
Upon its release, the 121-minute movie, which was adapted from William Peter Blatty’s best-selling 1971 novel of the same name, caused widespread hysteria as it packed theaters across the country. People reportedly fainted, were institutionalized and at least one was said to have miscarried after seeing the movie, according to online newspaper accounts.
The movie, which went on to gross more than $165 million in theaters and more than $90 million on video, is one of the most successful horror films of all time, according to The House of Horrors. It’s the 13th top grossing film of all time.
The Rev. John J. Nicola, who served as assistant director of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. at the time the movie was made was regarded as one of the country’s leading authorities on exorcism and served as a technical consultant.
Other movies depicting exorcisms include The Amityville Horror released in 1979, Poltergeist in 1982, Stigmata in 1999, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose in 2005.
The reality
There are still questions surrounding the exorcism of the then 13-year-old Maryland boy the movie is based on. Newspaper accounts vary both on the story and factual details, but most agree that was not as sensational of an event as the movie depicted. There are those who also believe many of the events may have just been part of the boy’s nature.
Other stories say that the boy and his aunt, who also at one point was blamed for the possession after her death, had begun experimenting with an Ouija Board shortly before the possession reportedly began.
Close friends told Mark Opsasnick, who wrote “The Haunted Boy of Cottage City: The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired ‘The Exorcist,’” they thought the possession was psychological with the influence of a grandmother with old world religious superstition and real events exaggerated to make a story better.
They said the teen was prone to tantrums and violent outbursts toward his family and few friends and exhibited cruel and at times even sadistic behavior toward other children and animals. The last day he was seen in junior high, his desk began shaking and vibrating extremely fast, when it didn’t stop after the teacher told him to, he was sent away.
A diary kept by one of the attending priests inspired the novel and movie and was meant to act as a guide for future exorcisms, but first-hand accounts did not begin until nearly two months after initial symptoms occurred. It’s unclear who actually witnessed many of the events described, Opsasnick wrote in his investigative piece.
The main character was changed from a boy to a girl to ease concern about discovering who the story was about.
One of the priests at the exorcism told Opsanick there was coldness in the room, movement of the phone, speaking of archaic languages and his arm was slashed by the possessed boy during an aborted exorcism attempt. The bed reportedly did move, but it was on rollers as many were then.
An assistant at the exorcism would not go on the record with Opsasnick saying whether he thought the boy was possessed or not. He said he didn’t feel at the time he was qualified to make that decision.
He said the boy, who was Lutheran but later converted to Catholicism, only spoke in Latin, which he seemed to be mimicking rather than understanding. His voice didn’t really change and he didn’t exhibit some other worldly strength.
There was spitting, but nothing significant and there was no vomiting or urinating, the priest told Opsasnick.
Alleged demonic markings didn’t appear to be done by the boy or scratched into his skin but rather left solid marks like lipstick, Opsasnik reported from his interviews.
Unlike in the movie, the priests involved reportedly did not have any previous exorcism experience and the boy underwent at least two exorcisms, both of which were conducted at a hospital rather than at home.
The diary reported that after the boy said he had a vision of St. Michael holding a flaming sword he had one last spasm before falling quiet and saying “he is gone,” referring to the devil. Twelve days later he returned home.
He went on to graduate from a private high school and has lived most of the rest of his life without anyone knowing who he really is.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 16 October 2009 )
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