De exorcist van het Vaticaan

by Tracy Wilkinson, Bob Snoijink (Translator)

Bezetenheid en duiveluitdrijving in de 21 e eeuw

Het fenomeen exorcisme, bij het grote publiek bekend geworden door de horrorfilm
The Exorcist in 1973, is nog altijd actueel. Was duiveluitdrijving in de Rooms-Katholieke kerk de laatste eeuw geen gangbare praktijk meer, onder paus Johannes Paulus II beleefde zij een revival.

Paus Johannes Paulus II zag de duivel en zijn dienaren niet alleen als formidabele vijanden, maar ook als tastbare, aanwezige krachten waar de katholieke kerk dagelijks de strijd mee dient aan te binden.

Tracy Wilkinson, hoofdredacteur van de
Los Angeles Times in Rome, kreeg toegang tot de hoogste autoriteiten binnen het Vaticaan. De geschiedenis van het exorcisme, de sceptici en de gelovers, de slachtoffers en de geredden, de priesters; iedereen komt aan het woord.

De kernvraag van het boek is: bestaat de duivel nu echt, of is dit psychische inbeelding?

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Paranormal, Audiobook, History, Research, Christianity

208 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 2007

Reviews

[Jessie Pietens · Rating 1 out of 5]

Badly researched and compiled and painfully subjective. For all the emphasis on empiricism, there was a remarkable lack of it in this book.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at demonic possession in modern Italy. The book gives a brief history of demonic possession in the New Testament and in Roman Catholic tradition. The author goes on to spotlight several exorcists and some of the people they have tried to help. She also talks about Satanic cults in Italy and some grisly murders. She wraps up the book with insights from psychologists and skeptics. The only thing I didn't care for is the author's obvious skepticism and her ignorance of the philosophy of science. Here's a representative remark from the author: "Religion is not logical. It is based on faith, not reason." Yes, religion is certainly based on faith. However, I would disagree that "religion is not logical." Most, if not all, religions have at least some internal logic. No religion is completely logical. Nor, I might add, is any system of human thought. And, apparently unknown to the author, scientists are often exercising a lot of faith in their theories and models. She also seems to be somewhat ignorant of modern trends. For instance, she seems skeptical when priests tell her that witchcraft and occult practices are on the rise. The author really needs to get out more. Most chain bookstores have an entire section on neo-paganism, wicca, witchcraft, and the occult (including how to practice). One can logically deduce that there is an increasing interest in these things. An interesting book. Good, but not great.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, it's just impossible to take seriously a book about Catholicism that asserts -- repeatedly -- that Vatican II marked the beginning of the church applying reason to faith. The transparent ignorance of the author about the tradition of thought behind the practice she seeks to describe produces an account that fails to even address what could have been the most interesting dimensions of the subject matter. Between repeating information that is simply false and offering simplistic analyses that overlooked major areas of inquiry, the book ends up offering little more than a few curious anecdotes naked of any coherent explanation of the phenomena at hand.

[Jessica Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truthfully, I only got halfway through before I had to read other things (not because I was bored with this, but because I HAD to read them), but look forward to the day I re-read what I've already read and read the rest. It provides a rarely-seen side of Catholic belief and practice.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting look at demonic possession in the Catholic Church. What I found most interesting was the details on the schism within the church regarding possession and exorcism. It was a short enjoyable read.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, but to honor an Exorcist who is not in union with the Church is practicing his ministry in a grave way. The protection and safety of the Church in critical in such a topic.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read.

[Sarah B · Rating 3 out of 5]

So if you decide to read The Exorcist like I did, the book may leave you with lots of questions. It certainly left me with questions and so I decided to read this to hopefully find some answers... And yes, I ended up with a few more questions! Like why does Italy have thousands of people running every year to get exorcisms performed on them? Luckily the book answers this question.

The author of this book tried to stay neutral. And by that I mean balancing the religion versus the science. But the church actually supports that too: they actually changed the rules about exorcism to hopefully make sure that people don't have medical or mental issues... You get to look in on a few actual exorcisms and there are sections on a few famous exorcists too. The book also briefly covers cults. The stuff on cults didn't hold my interest at all.

Some of the cases in here didn't exactly impress me very much. One female client had the symptoms of: numbness in her arms and feet, headache, bleeding, insomnia, shaking hands, light sensitivity, body pain and weight loss. The individual had medical scans but they didn't mention any other tests. I don't know about you but that doesn't sound like demon possession to me; it could be something like celiac or some other vitamin deficiency. Maybe gaslighting doctors?? I tell myself that a "scan" is not going to pick up a vitamin deficiency or celiac or even allergies. And speaking of allergies, one person was getting asthma each time they tried to go into the church. The priest was convinced it was a devil. But since I live daily with 12 food allergies and scent sensitivity I automatically think about scented candles, incense and cleaning liquids used. Of course that stuff wasn't mentioned. Makes me question the competency of their doctors.

The book also discusses this too: seeking help for "mental reasons" is taboo so you run to the priest. You have someone who listens and pays attention to you. So yes, the book does explain that. Just don't expect the stuff you see in that movie with floating beds or things moving around by itself (although items moving IS mentioned in a few sentences; it's just not a main topic and the book doesn't try to explain it)..

A lot of the book struggles with what an exorcist should do today.. it also tries to explain what a demon or devil is. And how these people get into these problems..

That certainly was a big question I had before I started to read this. I mean it says "thousands of people a year are going to the exorcist in Italy each year"!! My brain automatically wanted to know how do they get themselves into this mess. The book does mention a few "big things" but I really don't know if this actually answers the question to my satisfaction. The area towards the end of the book did have a few thought provoking ideas about it; more rational ideas of what might be going on...

But at the end I am left feeling slightly confused and kind of "grey". I have always had a logical mind so perhaps it's harder for me to accept this sort of thing.

Of course my brain also thinks up a few ideas the book doesn't mention at all! Like since Italy is the location of the Vatican (head of the church) could it be that also attracts more devils to that area?? It makes sense in a way. Or are people just more rotten today, are doing worse things than before and so they just become easy targets?? Or is it just past trauma and feeling they don't have any control over stuff??

I read the book. I learned a few things and I took notes too. And I made my own ideas about possible answers...but I kind of feel by staying in the middle so much the book kind of leaves me with this muddled feeling at the end. It's like the author can't decide.

I think if you are curious about this stuff you can read this to make up your own mind.

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up on a whim and breezed through it in a day so easy and clear is the journalism of Tracy Wilkinson. As I expected from a journalist with no training in religious subjects, the book butchers many terms, ignores historical nuances, simplifies many complex themes and generally treats the world of exorcisms as a side show in a circus. If I have to read another book where the term fundamentalist is misused, I think I will burst a capillary in my eye. (Not only was it a factual mistake, as Catholics are specifically named in the treatise, The Fundamentals, as not fundamental. But it is insultingly synonimous with violence in Wilkinson's view.) Still, if you want to read a book about the actual modern-day world of exorcism, this is not a bad place to start. To her credit, she does take the time to tell us what Christians in general and Catholics in particular believe about demons and the rituals that are used to drive out evil spirits. She impressed me by including the relatively ignored fact that exorcisms are present in daily life of communicants, such as in baptisms or in the Easter renunciation recited by Catholics. This bookish stuff is probably less interesting than revolving heads, but what the heck put it in there, maybe someone will actually be informed. What Wilkinson does really well is to reduce the different personalities of the exorcists and patients into easy to digest sketches that seem to reflect accurately what I have read over the years of the different individuals involved in the scene. She does inject a soft but cynical brand of bias, but that's just daily bread. As she herself notes, the exorcists she interviews are the most notorious, except for the french Dominican. She misses, as she is supposed to, much of the fundamentalist, I mean orthodox, Catholic practitioners. I am astounded that she does not include an interview with the California-based organization that is considered the most authoritative body of practitioners, but then again it is not in Rome. (There is such a thing as being too close to really form an opinion.) Probably these folks would not talk to her anyway, since it is the informal policy of such practitioners as directed by the Holy See to avoid sensationalism. Dermian, as she notes, is closer to the modern crop of exorcists, men who keep an eye on the psychology of their patients and who adhere to the guidance of the church, getting no pride out of the thing. Wilkinson does catch several important trends, the struggle of certain lone guns against new norms and the struggle to distinguish between psychological and spiritual suffering. (On this topic, she quotes but fails to digest what several exorcists are saying to her: that insanity and demonic activity often go hand in hand.) She does note that there is a nascent interest in the church to emphasize personal responsibility first before external forces in the field of exorcism (Because confession and personal sin are a just recently added idea!) and she attributes this to the Vatican being embarrassed by Amorth's remarks a few years back. With an invisible smirk, Wilkinson ponders if this will affect the church's credibility and accountability! (Hmm... where have I read those remarks before regarding the church?!) LOL. Throughout the book, Wilkinson attempts to figure out which patients are merely psychologically disturbed and which are truly a mystery, which I think is a valuable and fruitful exercise. I can definitely see where some of those folks interviewed might be a bit deluded and reading between the lines that even Wilkinson does not see, I think Dermian does a solid job of being discreet. Lucia's case is an interesting one, but I am annoyed by Wilkinson's derisive comments that paint Lucia's more modest background as 'ignorant'. (Real things don't happen to poor people!) Combining Milingo and the Dashing scholarly priest as both 'primitive' is also super disrespectful to the African Milingo, but I don't think Wilkinson realized she did that. (If Dashing priest were truly as intellectually sophisticated as he seems, there's no way he'd believe in the devil!) I did learn some things though, I learned that I can absolutely see some of what the old guard is saying about not fearing the devil, just as you would not be afraid of highway traffic. One thing that was made clear to me as I shook my head over some of the remarks of specific priests, was how much their power was in their office and not in their specific persons. I think whenever I look at that, of the question that St. Francis was asked, "What would you do with a sinful priest? A: I would receive my Lord from his hands". It is the office, not the man.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written. Explains what an exorcism is really like and covers both sides of the argument. Explores a few different people extensively as they tell their story and same with the Exorcists themselves.

[Matt Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

A journalist's straightforward approach offers a clear depiction of exorcism in the heart of Italy. Interviews with those afflicted with inner demons and psychological instability, priests that practice exorcism from the fantastic to the reluctant as well as skeptics in law enforcement and psychology tell the story of modern day confrontation with evil and how it is perceived. The author allows all stories to be told, and finds compelling examples and inconsistencies but eventually falls into the skeptics' camp ending the book with ways of debunking most phenomena. I'm skeptical of the author's willingness that what happens in exorcism can be explained away by the equally dubious reason of hypnosis.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting. It is interesting to hear about the diverse options about exorcism within the Church and how it is being conducted today. As some people reported this book is short, but I think it is able to outline a very brief history of exorcism, as well as give the broad option of the use of exorcism today.

Thinks I appreciated the biographies of exorcists and their patients. These put human faces on those who practice and rely on exorcisms.

I have read some reviews and many people believe the author has come out negatively against Christians, and the Church. I think you should remember she has to be the Devil's advocate. HAHAHA

[Michal Gregor · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is filled with misconceptions. The author does not seem to know the first thing about the teaching of the Catholic Church (or else she is misrepresenting it on purpose) which is sort of a problem when you are writing a book such as this one. However, I actually enjoyed reading it – just as I enjoyed reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins: both are stupid to the point of being adorable. :D

[Clay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not understand the reviews for this book that say that Wilkinson mocks belief and the idea of possession. It makes me think that those people would be hurt in the presence of any critical take on faith and the Catholic Church.

Wilkinson does an amazing job with the book. It is a fast, creepy, and engaging read. If you would like a fast overview on what exorcisms look like in the Roman Catholic Church in the modern day and hear some of the secular responses for the phenomena of possessions, you shouldn't be disappointed with this work.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

The strangest thing about this book is that it's poorly written. You wouldn't think the Los Angeles Times' Rome bureau chief would use the word "dastardly" without irony. Also, it betrays an ignorance not only of Catholicism but of basic philosophical concepts like logic. Disappointing.

[Edward Gardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at an ancient Church practice from a secular journalist who shows judgemental skepticism over true, unbiased journalism. Even so, the interviews and first-hand accounts with exorcists and the exorcised made her bias tolerable.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a religious person but this title caught my attention and I had to read it. I must say that I found it hard at times to think this was a work of non-fiction when it could easily pass as fiction. At least in my opinion!

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative! I now know everything that I will ever need to know about exorcism. Ever.

[Eric Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read. Very interesting portrayal of a difficult topic. Author attempts to remain largely unbiased and does an excellent job and giving differing views a fair shake.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating analysis and report of exorcism within Christianity.

[Nicolette Froelicher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Interesting read!

[divineprisoner · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of information in the book is wrong, on a factual level, such as the translation of certain words (like the Greek word "daimon"). I also have to question the translations of the conversations held in Italian and how the interpretations may differ or have varied connotations in Italian than what we have in English.

Some definitions and descriptions of the Catholic faith are also inaccurate or wrong, such as the claim that the Church (at the time of this being written) was reconsidering the belief in Limbo. Limbo has never been a Catholic belief nor a part of doctrine, only one that 'outsiders' would insert into Catholicism and who didn't know any better.

The implication that exorcism is a superstitious and archaic practice that places such importance on the one performing the exorcism- the priest- is rather annoying. Most exorcists I've met and spoke with have always maintained that the exorcism is not about them and that they are not the ones who achieve any of the results, but that it is only through God. The priest is only an instrument, if you will.

I dislike how much an excommunicated and disgraced member of the clergy was made so prominent in this book. Anything from that person should have been taken with a grain of salt and left out due to lack of credibility in their ministry. I feel the author included this to discredit the exorcism ministry rather than trying to maintain an objective voice.

Finally, this book started out by trying to be objective in its approach, but quickly fell away from that and became obvious that the author had a specific agenda in mind. Rather than truly try to explore and immerse themselves into the intellectual side of faith, which they argue that faith and logical reason are at odds, they imply that most of exorcism ministry is a form of tragic superstitious extremism used to control and instill fear into believers.

I understand this book is considered to be older now (2007, I believe), but if nothing else, the only redemptive quality to it is that I am able to form my own arguments against this line of thinking in a much better manner now that I understand where skeptics like this are coming from. And thank God that since this book was published that there are much better books on the ministry and nature of exorcism within Catholicism.

[Timothy Grubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine journalistic study of Italian exorcists and the history of exorcism as a whole…

The Vatican's Exorcists: Driving Out the Devil in the 21st Century by Tracy Wilkinson is a detailed examination of exorcists, their cases, and their relationship with both the church and the world around them.

Despite being over a decade old and the type of subject that gives rise to crappy horror movies, the author pulls back the layers of exorcists and their activities…

The author interviews a number of exorcists, priests, bishops, academics, and others. She includes details such as their training (including a “Vatican school” that has a special course), the murky history of exorcism in the Catholic Church (including periods when exorcism was looked down upon and avoided), as well as case studies. They even have a partial chapter on a “controversial” exorcist from Zambia that “plays by his own rules” and was never properly trained for the act prior to being recalled to Rome.

Her main subject is Father Gabriele Amorth, the late inspiration for the terrible movie The Pope’s Exorcist. Rather than being a dogmatic psycho, he and others focus not only how the church takes a scientific view on exorcism today but also that they make sure it is only handled as a last resort after other less strenuous methods have already been exhausted.

It’s quite practical and it’s the type of subjects much prefer to see in a fictional setting (and I have such as in the show Evil).

Definitely an informative book that includes a lot of religious figures from different periods, and there’s an index in the back in case you need to double back on certain individuals.

[NoScreenName · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've now read about four books on this topic. This wasn't necessarily poorly written it just wasn't objective. The author is clearly an atheist and while the background of an author shouldn't matter it does when their personal opinions/feelings becomes evident to the reader. Pass on this one. It's a fascinating topic and much more information can be found directly reading books by actual exorcists not some 'I'm so above it all' atheist. We get it, man. You're cool!

Start with reading Father Amorth's books. Monsignor Rosetti (currently an exorcist, working for the past two decades) is great too. He has a doctorate in Psychology and very rational and not attention seeking. While Amorth *was* a bit attention, seeking his intentions were pure (and he remained humble knowing he was just an instrument in helping people) and he worked tirelessly to minister to as many people in need as possible. One scandalous 'exorcist' was excommunicated due to his refusal to adhere to the Vatican's very strict rules for this ancient rite. As a result, he continued to do his own 'exorcisms' but clearly not sanctioned by the church. These rituals skewed to more performative and seemed to be oddly cult like with the community he built as well.

Not a terrible book but better are out there.

[Cashie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s definitely a lot to chew on (I’m still processing what I do and don’t believe about it).

On the one hand, I found it fascinating the different viewpoints the exocists held. Several bits of the book are about the author interviewing these exocists and finding where they do and don’t agree—it was intriguing.

Overall, though, I didn’t like the tone of the book. When I read the synopsis, it sounded like it would be a more academic book primarily built off of interviews and experiences. While the book did have that, the author tended to go off on tangents talking about how science and faith are completely divided. She believes possession is a self-induced delusion (intentionally or unintentionally). She’s more than in her right to believe what she wants, but I wish she had been more professional and neutral in expressing her interviews and data. I would have enjoyed that more.

[David Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on exorcists, exorcisms, and those who are posessed. It describes mostly the culture of exorcisms and Catholic faith in Italy. A must read if you are really interested in exorcism and demonic posession.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rambling surface level survey of some current practices of the Catholic Church related to exorcism. The author focuses on the practice of exorcism almost exclusively in Italy. This was a very journalistic review of current practices, without any real analysis as to the theology, and it appeared as if she never desired to "understand", but just to report. However, if her reporting is accurate, then I was surprised that exorcisms in Italy are as prolific as she indicated. This would mean that my previous understanding that the Church's hierarchy conducted a rigorous review of cases before authorizing an exorcism may not be true, which simply means yet even more abuse by priests.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

A more apt title would be, "Exorcism in Italy: How the Church Deals With The Demand". If that was the title, you would know what to expect when reading the book.

[Angie and the Daily Book Dose · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I honestly thought this book was crappy. It had such promise! It just skimmed the surface of a fascinating topic, and really missed the mark.

[January · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Fairly balanced on the topic.