by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 3, 2004
All Rights Reserved.

eeping a grueling schedule for a man half his age, 80-year old Father Gabriel Amorth performs dozens of exorcisms a week. Vatican's top exorcist has standing room only, accommodating endless streams of demonically possessed parishioners, unable to get help from conventional doctors and enlightened practitioners dealing with evil spirits. Today's world is replete with immorality, practicing the occult, black magic and fortune telling, all of which invite devil possession. “These customs open the door to evil spirits and demonic possession,” said Amorth, accepting exorcism as a fact of modern life. “Exorcism is God's true miracle,” acknowledging that it's something priests must face head-on. Where others fail, Amorth drives out demons and evil spirits—or so he and his followers say. Amorth co-founded the International Assn. of Exorcisms dedicated to training priests on exorcism.

      Over 300 exorcisms were performed in Italy over the last decade, with demand steadily rising. With his purple priest's stole, long black cloak, silver-and-wood crucifix, tattered leather bag, baptismal oil and aspergillum for sprinkling holy water, Amorth has all the Byzantine accoutrements needed to begin the primitive exorcism ritual, dating back to the second Century. Latin prayers, anointing with holy water and oil, all accompany Amorth's powerful exhortations, including asking the devil to state his name and vanish. “I've never been afraid of the devil,” said Amorth, insisting the devil doesn't go easily, often requiring repeat exorcisms. While admitting devil possession is rare, Amorth knows it's real when subjects turn violent and resist intervention. Psychiatrists see it differently. Italian psychiatrist Salvatore DiSalvo admits some bizarre symptoms don't respond to conventional explanations or treatments.

      When Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer published “Studies in Hysteria” (1893-1895), it caused a big stir in the religious community. Freud and Breuer shattered common myths, including the most inexplicable symptoms, like hallucinations, amnesia, somnambulism and multiple personalities. Before meeting Breuer, Freud aborted his “Project for Scientific Psychology,” using neurology to explain mental illness. Freud published “The Interpretation of Dreams” in 1900, modernizing the field of mental health. Mental patients would no longer get shackled, incarcerated and executed. Yet despite over one-hundred years of progress, the Church still has trouble playing catch-up with current developments. “I know people say we are crazy,” said Renzo, the husband of 44-year-old Lucia, seeking exorcism to purge herself of evil spirits caused by a spurned lover.

      After receiving little help from spiritual healers, Lucia attempted suicide, prompting her exorcism. She convinced herself that a spurned lover put a spell on her, causing her great pain and sickness. “You can't believe this stuff until you see it,” said her husband, convinced that his wife's problems stemmed from devil possession. Lucia engaged Father Vincenzo Taraborelli, a protégé of Amorth, for an exorcism. After repeat exorcisms, Lucia's symptoms eventually abated, leaving her free from her self-destructive episodes. In Lucia's case, a trip to the psychiatrist might have helped her problems. But even if it hadn't, it wouldn't prove demonic possession. Freud found hysteria practically immune to conventional psychiatry, responding instead to his method of psychotherapy called psychoanalysis. “Demonic possession” responds to exorcism's unique symbolic significance.

      Deciphering whether someone has “demonic possession” or garden-variety mental illness isn't easy. Diagnostic categories don't always fit symptoms found in patients claiming “demonic possession.” Vatican II urged priests to use “maximum circumspect and prudence” when trying to figure out whether parishioners have psychiatric problems. Even John Paul II has reportedly performed exorcisms, most recently helping a 19-year-old woman overcome uncontrolled bouts of shouting, seizures and profanity at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Whether it's spiritual healing, like “laying-on-hands,” or exorcism, Freud gave modern psychiatry deeper insight into the causes. Evangelicals, especially Pentecostals, use trance states called “prayer language” or “speaking-in-tongues” to access Satan or the Holy Spirit, causing fugue, somnambulism, dissociation, amnesia, multiple personality and seizures.

      Medieval thinking treasures esoteric explanations over scientific fact. It's a blow to the ego to be told one's mentally ill. It preserves self-esteem and expands self-importance to see human problems as grandiose religious events. While some regard Freud as backward, he gave the first scientific explanation for mental illness, including the types of hysteria found in “demonic possession.” Today's overemphasis on neurochemistry or, on the other extreme, extraterrestrials, detours away from common sense. “In the majority of cases, the people who come to me are not in need of an exorcism but of medical care,” admitted Amorth, yet insisting that when medical treatments fail exorcism might do the job. For people with deeply held religious beliefs, the cosmic fight of God against Satan resonates more than old Freudian ideas about hysteria or today's neuroscience.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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