Exorcisms have been going on for centuries and they are a hot topic of discussion after the cinema release of The Pope’s Exorcist. Oscar winner Russell Crowe plays Father Gabriele Amorth who ‘saw patients levitate, spit nails and gain super strength’.
According to the Daily Star, Exorcists can be summoned when demons or evil spirits take hold of people’s bodies and minds. And below we look at some chilling examples that left even the most experienced of exorcists, like Amorth, totally shaken.
First up we have Reverent Bill Bean who this year celebrates his ten-year anniversary of banishing demons away. He has written several books about demon possessions and he spoke exclusively to Daily Star about his most haunting cases.
Remembering one woman with “snake-like eyes”, he told us: “In a case in San Diego, this woman’s eyes changed to a yellowish, greenish type of color and had these reptilian-looking slits for her pupils.
“I will never ever forget that. “Her body was withering around like a serpent, like a snake, and contorting in ways that a human body can’t. “I’m happy to tell you that God worked through me to deliver her but I will never ever forget that.” Next, we have the previously mentioned Gabriele Amorth who was the world’s best-known exorcist.
The Italian Catholic was the Chief Exorcist in the Vatican and one case stayed with him up until his death in 2016 aged 91. And although he famously started his 30-minute sessions with a joke, this occasion in 1997 involving a “slim peasant man” was no laughing matter.
Marcello Stanzione wrote in his book: “His curses and threats were aimed solely at the exorcist; then he began spitting at him and preparing to attack him physically.
“Screaming and howling, the demon burst forth and looked straight at him, drooling saliva from the young man’s mouth.” The demon then said “I am Lucifer” after Amorth demanded he reveal his name.
Stanzione added: “The young man’s body stiffened so much that he became hard and began to levitate. For several minutes, he remained hovering three feet in the air.”
Amorth eventually made Lucifer go away but he described the encounter as “terrifying”. Bishop Plato Angelakis meanwhile said his first-ever exorcism was the scariest of his career after he witnessed a demon-possessed woman throw four men, including himself, across a room.
