The Italian priest from Modena worked as an exorcist in the diocese of Rome from 1986 until his death. In 1992, Gabriele Amorth, together with five other priests, also founded the International Association of Exorcists, of which he was President from 1994 to 2000. He then served as honorary chairman until his death in 2016 at the age of 91. Without a doubt, Amorth was considered one of the most famous exorcists in the world. The priest has written over 30 books on the subject, written numerous articles and gave regular interviews in newspapers, magazines, television and radio. The Italian also ran his own Facebook page called “The Last Exorcist”.
In 2013, Amorth admitted to the Sunday Times of London to, he have until then performed more than 160,000 exorcisms. At his best, it was 20 a day, he claims. According to him, not each of these exorcisms stands for a specific case. Because sometimes a victim requires several rituals or prayers to be healed. At the same time, Amorth also emphasized that an exorcism only accounts for ten percent of the effect, the remaining 90 percent must come from the person concerned and their faith. As reasons for an obsession, he cited the renunciation of the Christian faith and the turning to superstition, magic and Satanism, which would open the floodgates to demons. But the priest also pointed out that in most cases suspected possession is due to natural causes such as schizophrenia.
In his books, Amorth also criticized the fact that many priests today no longer believe in the devil and demons. But he himself talked to Satan every day. Amorth spoke Latin while the devil spoke Italian. In addition, the exorcist considered practicing yoga and reading the “Harry Potter” novels to be satanic.
It is not known which of Amorth’s stories “The Pope’s Erxorcist” is based on. In any case, it seems as if the horror film were a very loose adaptation of the writings of the chief exorcist. But there’s no question about it: This true background gives “The Pope’s Erxorcist” a dose of extra horror. Whether this is also the case will be seen from April 6th when the film hits the cinemas.
