Gabriele Amorth - An Exorcist: More Stories

AN EXORCIST: MORE STORIES

FATHER GABRIELE AMORTH

Translated by Nicoletta V. MacKenzie

IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO

Title of the Italian original:
Nuovi racconti di un esorcista

2000 Centro Editoriale Dehoniano, Bologna (9th edition)
1992 Edizioni Dehoniane (1st edition)
English language edition made possible
through the mediation of Agenzia Letteraria Eulama

Cover art: Healing of the Possessed (detail)
Limbourg Brothers (15th c.)
Tre Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Ms. 65/1284, fol.166r. French, early 15th c. Muse Cond, Chantilly, France
Giraudon / Art Resource, New York

Cover design by Roxanne Mei Lum

2002 Ignatius Press, San Francisco
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-0-89870-917-9 (PB)
ISBN 978-1-68149-670-2 (E)
Library of Congress control number 2001094785
Printed in the United States of America

My previous book, Un esorcista racconta (1990; English: An Exorcist Tells His Story , Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1999), was successful beyond my most optimistic expectations, generating more interest than what I thought was warranted. I can explain this phenomenon only by referring to Proverbs 15:23, Sermo opportunus est optimus , that is: the best sermon is the one delivered at the right time. I believed there was an immediate need to discuss the topic of exorcism, and I felt an urgency to write about it. I cannot deny that I am gratified not only by the rapid diffusion of the book, but also by the many things that happened after its publication.

In view of the great response to the topic among both clergy and laity, I decided that I would provide a service to everyone by following up with a second book. When I was planning the format of An Exorcist: More Stories , I intended to limit the book to a series of examples with commentary. Then I realized that I needed to expand some topics that I had barely mentioned in my first book so as not to make it too heavy. This second volume is still based on my personal experience under the direction of Father Candido Amantini, but it also includes the experience of other exorcists and their suggestions; I want to thank them, and other Catholic faithful, for their contribution to my work.

As far as the format of the book is concerned, I believe that concrete examples are fundamental for understanding the subject matter that I will discuss. Therefore, I begin each chapter with one particular topic and conclude the chapter with an exampleamong the manythat best illustrates my point. These examples were all chosen from recent occurrences; in fact, some are still unresolved. I reported the unabridged facts, but I changed the names and significant details to protect the identity of the victims and anyone else involved.

I thank the Lord for this second book; I hope that it is as successful as the last one, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

I cannot write this book without pausing to remember my teacher, Father Candido Amantini, whom the Lord called home on September 22, 1992. It was the feast of Saint Candido, Father Amantinis patron saint. To his brother priests who had come to wish him well, he simply answered: Today, I asked Saint Candido for a gift. Since he was in great physical pain, we all guessed his request, and he received his gift.

Father Candido was born in 1914 at Bagnolo of Saint Flora (Grosseto). In addition to his vast educationhe had taught Sacred Scripture and moral theologyhe was endowed with holiness and wisdom, and he had a well-balanced spirituality. For these reasons, he was in great demand as confessor and as spiritual director. Padre Pio said of him: Father Candido is a priest after Gods heart.

However, he is best known because of his activity as exorcist for the diocese of Romea position he held for thirty-six years. People flocked to him from all over Italy and the entire world; he would see up to seventy or eighty individuals every morning. He was invariably patient, always smiling, and his advice often turned out to be inspired.

He had a great love for the Blessed Virgin, which he expressed in his book Il Mistero di Maria . In the end, it was prayer (he would also pray all night) and his ministry that completely absorbed his life, so much so that he had no time to write. In 1990, I began to feel that his health was failing, and I was afraid that the wealth of his experience as an exorcistexperience that he had tried to teach me with so much patiencewould be lost. That is why I rushed to write Un Esorcista Racconta (English: An Exorcist Tells His Story ) and begged Edizioni Dehoniane to print it as quickly as possible: I was afraid that Father Candido would not be able to read and correct it.

Instead, he flew to his reward on the eve of the publication [in Italy, 1992] of this second book, An Exorcist: More Stories , to which he had also contributed. I am grateful to him, and I ask for his intercession from heaven.

G. A.

When Cardinal Ugo Poletti, in June 1986, assigned me as an assistant to Father Candido Amantini, to help him in his ministry as exorcist, he opened up a new, completely unknown world to me. Contrary to what one might think, my strongest impressions were not provoked by extreme cases, by the most unusual phenomena, those that we believe only if we see them. The strongest and most lasting impression, for a beginner-exorcist, is coming in contact with a world where suffering of the soulmore than of the bodyis the norm. Those who live in this realm approach the priest with trust and openness, in much need of his help and his advice.

For the most part, the exorcists main task is to comfort the discouraged, enlighten the ignorant, and remove false fears and misguided behavior (going to magicians, card readers, and such). To do this, he must encourage souls to be reconciled with God, to resume a regular life of faith, prayer, and reception of the sacraments, and to resolve to embrace Gods Word. Despite my long priestly ministry, I have never had so many occasions to bring back to God and to the Church so many individuals and entire families. The majority of those who call an exorcist do not need exorcisms, but a real conversion.

I would like to give a brief account of a series of events that, in my opinion, were very meaningful because they not only increased my awareness and knowledge in the field, but also were instrumental in opening doors to all sorts of contacts at the national and international level. At the end of September 1990, my book Un Esorcista Racconta (An Exorcist Tells His Story ) made its debut. I did not think that it would cause a furor . However, a few days after it first appeared in bookstores, a middle-aged priest stopped me and told me: I devoured your book, from the first to the last word. I assure you that no one had ever told me anything about what you wrote. Then I began to receive a number of very welcome letters from other exorcists: they all indicated an unconditional approval of the book. Then began the long series of reviews and interviews; television, radio, almost all the major periodicals, mostly secular. In 1991, Radio Maria , which reaches all of Italy, broadcast a series of discussions on the book, from February 12 to September 24, under the expert leadership of Father Livio. Needless to say, this was the quickest way to spread word about the book and its contents. In addition, a great number of meetings, letters, and conferences had a role in bringing to the attention of a large audience what I had gradually discovered during my ministry as exorcist, that is: how greatand growingis the demand for exorcists and also, unfortunately, how inadequate is the action and the preparation of the men of the Catholic Church. I will expand on these two topics in this introductory chapter.