Hundreds of Tortured Germans Seeking Exorcists to Free Them From 'Devil's Grip'
Pastor Dale Morgan
*
From The Times
May 22, 2008
*Hundreds of Tortured Germans Seeking Exorcists to Free Them From
'Devil's Grip'*
Roger Boyes in Berlin
Hundreds of Germans, tortured by inner voices, are on the search for
priests who can free them from what they believe to be the grip of the
Devil, according to an extraordinary radio documentary that has stirred
an awkward debate about exorcism in the Catholic Church.
“Over the past year alone I have received requests from around 350
people who think they are possessed by an evil spirit,” says Father
Joerg Mueller, who heads a group of priests, doctors and therapists to
deal with the problem. “Therapy hasn't worked for them; they want
exorcism — a prayer that can free them.”
Father Mueller, who is based in a Bavarian monastery, was talking to a
team from WDR, the state radio network, which was allowed to record
extracts from eight exorcisms.
A Polish exorcist, named only as Father Wiktor, suggested that this was
only a fraction of the actual number seeking help
“I would say that every day at least one person is undergoing a
full-scale exorcism,” he told WDR.
This has come as a shock to the Catholic Church in Germany, which has
shied away from exorcism since the tragic case of Anneliese Michel in 1973.
Ms Michel, 23, from a strongly Catholic Bavarian village, had epilepsy
and suffered from hallucinations. Two priests were authorised to perform
an exorcism. They performed the ritual 67 times until she died, having
starved herself to 31kg (68lb).
After her death the priests and her parents were sentenced to
six-months' suspended jail sentences for not referring her for medical
treatment.
That verdict and the publicity — two films were made about the case
including The Exorcism of Emily Rose in 2005 — scared the Church
hierarchy. Permission for a full exorcism now has to be granted by a
bishop, but few permits have been given. In a poll of German dioceses,
only Paderborn admitted to having authorised three exorcisms.
Frustrated by the lack of exorcists in their own country, disturbed
Germans are turning to esoteric spiritual healers and priests in
Switzerland and Poland. Andrzej Trojanowski, a Polish priest, even has
plans to set up an exorcism centre in Poczernin, on the Polish-German
border.
WDR broadcast some of the sessions of the exorcists with Ms Michel. She
is heard growling and barking. “Tell the truth in the name of the Holy
Trinity and the Blessed Virgin Mary!” commands Father Arnold Renz. The
answer comes in the form of a long, terrifying scream.
The recording is making the Church leadership more reluctant to address
the needs of the supposedly possessed. Yet by doing so the bishops are
flying in the face of the Pope, who urged a convention of exorcists to
“carry on your important work in the service of the Church”.
Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican exorcist-in-chief, has performed the
ritual more than 40,000 times.
The Vatican aim appears to be to place at least one exorcist in each
diocese to ensure that the distressed do not drift away from the Church.
In Germany, however, that drift is already happening.
“I would say that 90 per cent of those who think they are posessed by
the Devil are mentally ill,” said Father Mueller. A large number of them
have suffered sexual abuse as children. Some think that an exorcism is
easier than long years of psychotherapy.
He added: “But about ten per cent of the people who approach us have
some sign of demonic possession and then you have to turn to special,
charismatic men and women who have the gift of being able to feel and
recognise if demons have entered someone.”
Only a handful qualify for exorcism. He gave the example of a widow who
was convinced that her late husband had returned, in demonic form, to
taunt her. She was offered psychotherapy.