Gabriele Amorth

Fr. Gabriele Amorth (born May 1, 1925) is an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the senior exorcist of the Diocese of Rome.

Early life and work

Amorth was born in Modena, Italy in 1925. He was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest in 1954 and became an official exorcist in June 1986 under the tutelage of Father Candido Amantini. ["An Exorcist:More Stories", Gabriele Amorth, Ignatius Press, 2000, page 9] He is a member of the Society of St. Paul, the Congregation founded by James Alberione in 1914. [ [http://www.messengersaintanthony.com/messaggero/pagina_articolo.asp?IDX=174IDRX=56 "The Exorcist", Renzo Allegri, A Messenger of St. Anthony] ]

In 1990, he founded the International Association of Exorcists and was president until he retired, at 75, in the year 2000. He is now honorary president for life of the association. [ [http://www.messengersaintanthony.com/messaggero/pagina_articolo.asp?IDX=174IDRX=56 "The Exorcist", Renzo Allegri, A Messenger of St. Anthony] ]

Publication

Amorth 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 two books "An Exorcist Tells His Story" and "An Exorcist: More Stories" are not official Roman Catholic documents, rather personal accounts of his office as Exorcist. The books use witness accounts and personal experience as evidence.

Views

The two books, "An Exorcist Tells His Story" and "An Exorcist: More Stories", include references to official Roman Catholic teachings on Demonology, [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04713a.htm CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Demonology ] ] however the main emphasis is on Amorth's experience as an Exorcist [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05711a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Exorcist ] ] . Both include references to the diagnosis and treatment of spiritual problems. The books briefly cover the topics of demonic contraction and curses. ["An Exorcist: More Stories", Gabriele Amorth, Ignatius Press, 2000.] . On curses he states that, "A curse can originate from such things as maledictions by close relatives, a habit of blaspheming, membership in the Freemasonry, spiritic or magic practices, and so on." ["An Exorcist: More Stories", Gabriele Amorth, Ignatius Press, 2000, page 115.]

He is somewhat noted for his opinions including, his claim of having performed over 50,000 exorcisms (which range from "a few minutes" to "several hours" [cite web
url= http://www.catholic-exorcism.org/pages/suntelegraph/suntelegraph.html
title= An Interview With Fr Gabriele Amorth
accessdate= 2006-09-13
last= Brandreth
first= Gyles
date= 2000-10-29
format= HTML
publisher= The Sunday Telegraph
archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20041106024653/http://www.catholic-exorcism.org/pages/suntelegraph/suntelegraph.html
archivedate=2004-11-06] ), that the senior officials of the Nazi Party were actively involved with Satanism and that both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were possessed.cite news
title = Hitler and Stalin were possessed by Devil, says Vatican exorcist
url = http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=402602&in_page_id=1770&ct=5
publisher = Daily Mail
date = 2006-09-28| accessdate = 2007-03-03] . He attributes the number of exorcisms performed to his opinion that "People have lost the Faith, and superstition, magic, Satanism, or Ouija boards have taken its place, which then open all the doors to the presence of demons." [ [http://ncregister.com/site/article/508 National Catholic Register, Vatican exorcist: Hitler Knew the Devil, Edward Pentin, October 26, 2006.] ]

It was in an interview with the "London Sunday Telegraph" that Father Gabriele Amorth stressed that "People need to know what we do." [cite web
url= http://www.catholic-exorcism.org/pages/suntelegraph/suntelegraph.html
title= An Interview With Fr Gabriele Amorth
accessdate= 2006-09-13
last= Brandreth
first= Gyles
date= 2000-10-29
format= HTML
publisher= The Sunday Telegraph
archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20041106024653/http://www.catholic-exorcism.org/pages/suntelegraph/suntelegraph.html
archivedate=2004-11-06] Father Amorth was also one of the voices that made public warnings to parents about J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" novels, noting that the books attempt to make a false distinction between black and white magic, when in fact, the distinction "does not exist, because magic is always a turn to the devil." [cite web
url= http://www.cathnews.com/news/201/17.php
title= Rome's chief exorcist warns parents against Harry Potter
accessdate= 2007-03-03
date= 2000-01-04
format= HTML
publisher= Catholic Telecommunications]

A recent announcement attributed to Father Gabriele Amorth to the online Catholic news service "Petrus" hailed the formation of adjuristine-exorcism squads by Pope Benedict XVI. The report, which was picked up by the UK newspaper the "Daily Mail" [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=504969 Pope's exorcist squads will wage war on Satan | the Daily Mail ] ] on December 29, 2007, originally appeared on "Petrus" and claimed the squads were being dispatched worldwide to "tackle the rise of Satanism". Vatican officials immediately dismissed the reports but it was an unusual instance where the existence of adjurist and adjuristine activity was acknowledged in the press.

Bibliography

* "An Exorcist Tells his Story", with Nicoletta V. Mackenzie 1999. (ISBN 0-89870-710-2)
* "Gospel of Mary: A Month With the Mother of God", 2000. (ISBN 0-8189-0871-8)
* "An Exorcist: More Stories", with Nicoletta V. Mackenzie 2002 (ISBN 0-89870-917-2)
* "Esorcisti e Psichiatri", 2002 EDB - Edizioni Dehoniane Bologna. (ISBN 80-7192-981-6)
* "Pater Pio: Lebensgeschichte eines Heiligen", 2003. (ISBN 3-7171-1108-6)

References

Further reading

*cite web
url= http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features/framorth_excerpt1_aug04.asp
title= excerpt from "An Exorcist Tells his Story"
accessdate= 2006-09-13
author= Fr. Gabriele Amorth
authorlink= Gabriele Amorth
year= 1999
month= March
format= HTML
work= An Exorcist Tells his Story
publisher= Ignatius Press
pages= 25-36

*cite web
url=http://www.thecatholiclibrary.org/Documents/orders/ssp/article1.php
title= The Reform of the Rite of Exorcism
accessdate= 2006-09-13
year= 2000
month= June
format= HTML
publisher= 30 Days
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20010603035018/http://www.catholic-exorcism.org/pages/suntelegraph/suntelegraph.html Interview] at the Internet archive)

*cite web
url= http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04713a.htm
title= Demonology
accessdate= 2007-03-03
date= 1908
month= January
format= HTML
work= The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV
publisher= New Advent - Catholic Encyclopedia

*cite web
url= http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05711a.htm
title= Exorcist
accessdate= 2007-03-03
date= 1909
month= January
format= HTML
work= The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume V
publisher= New Advent - Catholic Encyclopedia

*cite web
url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=A3RQPLNNRJ0ODQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/12/29/wexor129.xml
title= Vatican to create more exorcists to tackle 'evil'
accessdate= 2007-12-29
date= 2007
month= December
format= HTML
work= The Daily Telegraph, 2007-12-29
publisher= The Daily Telegraph, British newspaper