The International Association of Exorcists has expressed concern that “The Vatican Exorcist” distorts reality by portraying its activities as a standard horror film.
The movie “Pope Exorcist” (or “The Exorcist of the Vatican”) starring Russell Crowe is expected to attract the attention of the Catholic Church. After all, it is based on the memoirs of Father Gabriele Amorta, a true exorcist who has exorcised demons since 1986 and gives frequent interviews about his activities. He died in 2016. Real exorcists have expressed concern about how their activities are portrayed in the new movie. This was reported by the Catholic News Agency.
To them, The Vatican Exorcist falls into the category of splashy cinema, a subgenre of horror movies.
The statement stated that the Vatican was filmed with the high-contrast light-shadow effect typical of film noir, giving the film the Da Vinci Code effect, leaving the public in their usual doubt: who is the real enemy? Satan or Church?
Exorcists, who are members of the association founded and brought together by Amorth’s father, said that while special effects are “inevitable” in every movie about demonic possession, “everything is exaggerated by the striking physical and verbal spectacle typical of horror movies.” More than 800 clergy around the world.
“It is also an insult to the suffering experienced by those who are victims of the devil’s extraordinary act,” the group said in a statement. Reacting to the release of the movie’s trailer, the statement promised a more comprehensive response after the movie’s premiere.
Gabriele Amort, who died in 2016 at the age of 91, said she performed nearly 100,000 exorcisms in her lifetime. He was perhaps the world’s most famous exorcist and author of several books, including The Exorcist Tells His Story, which is said to have inspired the movie.
The rights to Amort’s books belong to the American publishing house Sophia Institute Press. They recently published a book called “The Papal Exorcist: 101 Questions About Father Gabriel Amorta” – an interview where the priest touched on a variety of topics, from prayers to pop music.
Michael Lichens, editor and spokesperson of the Sophia Institute Press, expressed some agreement with the exorcist group.
“The International Society of Exorcists has every right to be concerned, and I am grateful for their words. I hope the audience remembers that Father Amorth was a real person with a great legacy and maybe a few moviegoers get an interview or his books,” Leechens said.
Amorth was born on May 1, 1925, in Modena, Italy. During the war in Italy, he was a member of an underground anti-fascist organization. He was ordained priest in 1951, but did not become an exorcist until 1986, when Cardinal Hugo Poletti, Acting General of the Diocese of Rome, appointed him to the post.
Gabriele was quite famous, giving frequent interviews and being in the news. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph in 2000, he said: “I talk to the devil every day. I speak to him in Latin. He answers in Italian. I fought him every day for 14 years.”
In the new movie, Russell Crowe’s character states that most cases do not require exorcisms and instead recommends going to doctors and psychiatrists. In the story, he faces a difficult situation while trying to defeat the demon who has possessed a little boy, and the food does not die.
The International Association of Exorcists said the performance made the exorcism “a spectacle designed to evoke strong and unhealthy emotions in the audience through dark set design with sound effects that only evoke horror, anxiety, and fear.”
“The result is the indoctrination of the belief that exorcism is an abnormal, monstrous, and frightening phenomenon, and that its only main actor is the devil. This is the exact opposite of what happens in the context of exorcisms carried out in the Catholic Church, in accordance with the directives conveyed by him”, – noted in the Exorcists association.
Founded by Amort with Father René Laurentin in 1994, the association trains exorcists and encourages their inclusion in local communities.
Exorcism is considered a liturgical ritual that only a priest can perform.
Hollywood popularized the subject in the 1973 film The Exorcist, based on William Peter Blatty’s novel.
remember before Focus He wrote about the movie “The Exorcist of the Vatican” and how Russell Crowe managed to get used to the role of a priest.
Source: Focus
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