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Reviews by Dr Pravin Thevathasan
An Exorcist Tells
His Story
by Gabriel Amorth
Ignatius Press
Book Excerpt
An Exorcist Tells His Story - 4-CD Set
ALSO
An Exorcist More Stories
by Gabriele Amorth
Ignatius Press
Fr Amorth is a Catholic priest and an exorcist of the Diocese of Rome. Perhaps more than any other person, he has
promoted and defended the ministry of exorcism within the Catholic Church in these last few decades when there
has been so much scepticism of this field of endeavour and it is claimed that he has performed thousands of exorcisms
himself. In these two wonderfully readable books, he tells us his stories, many of them. As such, they are not
technical works and are meant for the general reader. As a respected exorcist, he would have ensured that the appropriate
assessments would have taken place before exorcism was considered. Superficially, many of the stories appear to
have naturalistic explanations. But this does not mean that they were not appropriately investigated. This reviewer
would have been interested to read reports by psychiatrists, for example, of at least some of the anecdotes related
in these books. These reservations aside, the books remain among the most useful introductions to the ministry
of exorcism in the Catholic tradition.
Fr Amorth describes the different degrees of diabolical activities, with appropriate case histories: possession,
oppression, obsession, infestation and subjugation. He reminds us of the ordinary means we have to overcome the
devil: prayer, self-denial and the sacraments. However, there are times when the extraordinary means are required,
albeit infrequently. Those who are possessed must be distinguished from those with mental illness and there are
certain symptoms that are suggestive of diabolical possession: an aversion to the sacred, blasphemy, unusual strength,
knowing secrets etc. This reviewer would have liked more details contrasting mental illness with possession. Also
needed is a more detailed social analysis. For example, it is reported that a son who was cursed by his father
at birth underwent all sorts of ailments including ill health, unemployment and marital problems. Might these not
be secondary to family dysfunction? Other anecdotes are of marriages not going ahead. A case of cold feet, perhaps,
rather than of curses? One would expect that these naturalistic possibilities would have been looked at, but it
would have greatly helped the reader to have been informed of this.
Fr Amorth is very clear about the dangers of dabbling in the occult. He sees black magic and
witchcraft in similar terms as they have the common feature of obtaining a curse against specific persons. Curses
that occur within families are especially strong. He goes on to define what is meant by the evil eye and a spell.
One learns that the ministry of exorcism may go on for years in certain individual cases. There
are examples given when different psychiatrists come to different conclusions after assessing the same person and
where psychiatrists have over-stepped their area of expertise, for example, telling a religious brother who may
be possessed to refrain from all religious devotions. What about the case of a nurse who could not pray and who
had suicidal thoughts? Medical reasons would surely have been looked at but it would have helped us had this been
documented.
Apart from the sacraments, Fr Amorth recommends certain prayers to protect us from the devil:
prayers of deliverance, the Anima Christi, prayer against every evil and prayer for inner healing. He also recommends
devotion to the guardian angels.
Neither of the books are scholarly tomes, being anecdotal in nature. So long as they are seen
as such, they can be read with great profit.
Copyright ©; Dr Pravin Thevathasan 2016
Version: 15th May 2016
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