by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
(May 23, 2008) A Polish exorcist startled the world when he revealed that as many as one German a day is undergoing a full scale exorcism in that country.
The priest, named only as Father Wiktor, was speaking to a German state radio network when he said, “I would say that every day at least one person is undergoing a full scale exorcism.”
Another priest on the show, a Bavarian named Father Joerg Mueller, said hundreds of Germans who report being tortured by inner voices are looking for priests to help free them from what they believe is the devil.
“Over the past year alone I have received requests from around 350 people who think they are possessed by an evil spirit,” said Father 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.”
These revelations startled the Catholic Church as well as the public, which has shied away from the practice of exorcism since the tragic case of Anneliese Michel in 1973, upon which the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose is based.
Anneliese was 16 years old when she started suffering from what appeared to be epileptic seizures, but when medications did not help and she began experiencing demonic visions and violent outbursts, her parents sought exorcism. Two priests were assigned the exorcism, which they performed numerous times. The girl eventually died of starvation after refusing to eat for weeks.
After her death, the priests and her parents were sentenced to six months suspended jail sentences for not referring her for medical treatment.
Since then, few bishops have granted permission for exorcisms.
A spokesperson for the archdiocese in central Germany told the DPA News Agency that priests had performed only three exorcisms between 1999 and 2003.
“Liberation from evil has been part of the church for 2000 years,” said Aegidius Engel, a spokesman for the archdiocese.
Although he declined to give specifics, he did say that the archdiocese had received 18 requests for exorcism from people the church deemed credibly possessed.
In spite of the increasing demand for exorcism, however, exorcists are scarce in Germany, which is causing many Germans to turn to esoteric spiritual healers and priests in Switzerland and Poland. One Polish priest, Andrzej Trojanowski, has plans to set up an exorcism center in Poczernin, on the Polish-German border.
“I would say that 90 per cent of those who think they are possessed by the devil are mentally ill,” Fr Mueller said. “But about ten percent 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 recognize if demons have entered someone.”
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