The demonologist, who has given lectures at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum in Rome, is not particularly fond of the film subgenre, considering it “folkloric and not very rigorous.” Apart from The Exorcist, which he does consider an accurate representation of what it means to face “powerful principalities of hell,” he only likes two more films: The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) and The Rite (2011) — despite their “cinematic and fanciful” elements. However, in the more than 1,200 exorcisms that he claims to have performed in his 18-year career (the first was at the age of 42; he is now 60), he has “seen it all,” he says. “Except for a head turning 360 degrees — that’s impossible!”

Review of Gabriel Amorth, An Exorcist Tells His Story (Ignatius, 1999) 205 pp". www.canonlaw.info . Retrieved 2020-10-03. In 2016, Italian filmmaker Federica di Giacomo offered a demystifying and costumbrist look at exorcisms through the documentary Liberami (or, Deliver Us), which follows the story of a provincial priest, Father Cataldo, in his fight against the devil. Cataldo is portrayed almost as a sort of gray bureaucrat who is used to dealing, crucifix in hand, day in and day out, with people rolling around his parish’s floor, yelling atrocities at him and reacting hysterically to his prayers. In one of the funniest moments of the film (which, just like Friedkin’s documentary on Father Amorth, shows no paranormal phenomena of any kind), Cataldo discusses with one of his collaborators the problem of exorcising an elderly lady who, due to her loneliness, “lives better” being possessed, because then she is the center of attention. In another, some parents require Cataldo’s services because their son does not want to go to school, which they see as an unequivocal sign that he is in the clutches of the devil. Father Cataldo in a scene from ‘Liberami.’ The 2017 American documentary film The Devil and Father Amorth, directed by William Friedkin, presents the exorcist at work in an Italian village. [25] Nếu có điều kiện, các bạn có thể mua cuốn sách (ebook) tại google play để ủng hộ tác giả: My battle against SatanAmorth authored two books specifically on exorcism. The publications marked a defining moment in literary history, being the first public documents to treat this subject.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose, one of the films mentioned by Acuña, is inspired by the true story of Anneliese Michel, a young German woman with a long psychiatric history. After her death at the age of 23, in 1976, her parents and the two priests who had performed 67 exorcisms on her were convicted of negligent homicide, due to severe malnutrition and dehydration (she weighed only 66 pounds), two broken knees from the numerous genuflections and a case of pneumonia. Michel claimed to be under the possession of different demons, including Adolf Hitler. In 2014, the Archbishopric of Burgos admitted to having authorized exorcisms on a minor with a history of anxiety, anorexia and suicide attempts, who would end up taking her own life in 2019, when she was 22. Her story was also included in a film: the Spanish 13 exorcismos (or, 13 Exorcisms, 2022). Exorcist Arnold Renz (right) with his lawyer, in 1978, during the trial for the negligent homicide of Anneliese Michel. Manfred Rehn (Getty Images) (picture alliance via Getty Image)Amorth, Gabriele (2006). Exorcisté a psychiatři. Kostelní Vydří: Karmelitánské nakladatelství. ISBN 80-7192-981-6. OCLC 85548700. Father Amorth wrote more than thirty books in Italian, many of which have been translated into other languages. The following are his books in English: