Father Gabriele Amorth; 1925-1916
The renowned exorcist, Pauline Father Gabriele Amorth, has died at the age of 91. [1]
A priest of the diocese of Rome, Father Amorth was admitted to hospital a few weeks ago suffering from pulmonary complications, according to Italian media reports.[1]
Born in Modena on May 1, 1925, Gabriele Amorth entered the Pauline congregation in Alba in 1947, five years after meeting its founder, Blessed Giacomo Alberione. Ordained in 1951, he was appointed exorcist of the diocese of Rome in 1985 by Cardinal Ugo Poletti.[1]
Often sought out by media around the world for his views on exorcism and understanding the struggle against evil, Father Amorth once confirmed to the Register that he thought Hitler and Stalin were “certainly” possessed by the devil, but denied that that fact removed their own personal responsibility for their actions.[1]
They followed “the promptings of the devil and they have done so willingly,” Father Amorth said in a 2006 interview. “Therefore they are guilty, completely responsible.”[1]
When asked if there were any leaders today who could be similarly possessed, the exorcist said there are “many who listen to the temptations of Satan and follow him.” Because of that, he said, “the world goes bad.” Instead of leading others “towards peace and well-being, the world moves towards war and unease,” he said.[1]
Last year, at a conference in Rome, he said “ISIS is Satan” in reference to the so-called Islamic State which has been brutally murdering Christians and other minorities in the Middle East in an effort to create a worldwide caliphate. Members of the terrorist group have since been trying to spread their atrocities to the West.[1]
Father Amorth said at the time only two spiritual realms exist, “the Holy Spirit and the demonic spirit,” and that the demonic enters in “because evil is disguised in various ways: political, religious, cultural.” The demonic spirit has one source of inspiration: “the devil”, and as a Christian, he said he fights “the beast spiritually.” [1]
Christine Niles at Church Militant writes:
The Catholic priest controversially claimed Harry Potter books encourage children to believe in black magic and yoga is “evil” because it promotes Hinduism.
Father Amorth believed people possessed by Satan tend to vomit pieces of iron and shards of glass. He maintained both Hitler and Stalin were possessed by the Devil, but that fact didn’t excuse their abhorrent actions.
“For example, I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed by the devil. If you think about what types like Stalin, Hitler did … certainly they were possessed by the devil,” he said. [2]
In October 2000, it was reported he (Amorth) had performed over 50,000 exorcisms (which ranged from “a few minutes” to “several hours” in length). In March 2010, he said that the number had increased to 70,000 . By May 2013 he said he had performed 160,000 exorcisms in the course of his ministry. Note that according to Father Amorth, each exorcism does not represent a victim of possession each, but rather each exorcism is counted as a prayer or ritual alone, and some possession victims required hundreds of exorcisms. Amorth believes that a person may be possessed by more than one demon at once, sometimes numbering in the thousands, which is what accounts for the high number of reputed demons exorcised.[3]
Amorth has also been quoted as saying that the senior officials of the Nazi Party were actively involved with Satanism and that both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were possessed. When asked whether the devil can strike inside the Vatican City, Amorth stated, “He has tried already. He did it in 1981 by attacking John Paul II by working with those who armed Ali Agca”.[3]
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.[3]
[1] from The National Catholic Register in an article by Edward Pintin 9-16-2016, read more at NCR
[2]from Church Militant in an article by Christine Miles, read more at Church Militant
[3] from Wikipedia
Saint Michael's Journal 