AIE Associazione Internazionale Esorcisti pressoffice

About the trailer and previews of the motion picture: “The Pope’s Exorcist”

**About the trailer and previews of the motion picture: “The Pope’s Exorcist”**

Press release of the International Association of Exorcists

Television, streaming, and social media platforms are announcing the upcoming release in April of “The Pope’s Exorcist”, directed by Australian Julius Avery. The title itself is pretentious. A quick look at the trailer confirms (if proof were needed) not only its splatter-like quality, a true subgenre in the horror category, but also its unreliability on such a sensitive and relevant matter.

The movie revolves around the figure of Don Gabriele Amorth (1925-2016), exorcist of the Diocese of Rome for about thirty years. He is played by New Zealand actor Russell Crowe, known to the general public for his protagonist role in The Gladiator, which won him an Oscar in 2001.

After viewing the trailer, we would like to offer a few remarks in anticipation of watching and evaluating the film in its entirety when it will debut in theaters. Possibly, a more in-depth press release will follow at that time.

Leaving aside what at first appears to be a citation to other films (where the priest ends up being possessed himself), we note that the famous Hollywood actor is not at all reminiscent in appearance, but especially not in manner, of the human and priestly profile of Don Amorth. The production specifies that the movie is loosely based on Don Amorth’s memoirs (An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories). All too loose, we would like to observe.

The production company and the director seem more interested in the glamorous association between the exorcist figure and the well-known gladiator of two decades ago, than in the spirit of service that drives the former in his ministry of consolation.

Furthermore, the Catholic Church is represented by an equally non credible pope figure, played by Italian actor Franco Nero. Finally, the Vatican environments, painted in the traditional range of chiaroscuro shades, provide the film with a “Da Vinci Code” effect, instilling in the audience the usual doubt: who is the real enemy? The devil or the ecclesiastical “power”?

We will conclude these brief considerations with a reference to the so-called “special effects,” an inevitable trait of any film dedicated to the theme of diabolical possession. As it has already been depicted in other movies, everything here gets exasperated through striking physical and verbal manifestations, typical of horror movies.

To present the experience of Don Amorth’s exorcisms in such a grisly manner not only contrasts historical reality, but it distorts and falsifies what is lived and experienced during the exorcism of truly possessed people – a practice that we, Catholic exorcists, perform according to the directives provided by the Church. Moreover, it is offensive to the state of suffering the victims of the devil’s extraordinary actions are subjugated to.

As for the spectator, what can we say?

Depicting exorcism this way causes it to become a spectacle, aimed at arousing strong and unhealthy emotions. The gloomy scenography is filled with sound effects that only provoke anxiety, disquiet and fear in the viewer.

The goal is to instill the conviction that exorcism is an abnormal, monstrous, and frightening phenomenon in which the only protagonist is the devil, whose violent reactions can be faced with great difficulty. This is the exact opposite of what occurs in the context of an exorcism celebrated within the Catholic Church, in obedience to the directives imparted by it.

Quite different is the viewing of “Libera Nos. The Triumph Over Evil,” that has been distributed and sponsored by the International Association of Exorcists. Here is shown what exorcism really looks like in the Catholic Church, painting an authentic portrayal of the figure of the exorcist priest. It also displays exorcism as a highly joyous event, because by experiencing the living presence and action of Christ the Lord and the Communion of Saints, those tormented by the extraordinary action of the devil gradually find liberation and peace.

PS: images taken from the tailer

Circa il trailer del film: “L’esorcista del Papa”.

Comunicato stampa dell’Associazione Internazionale Esorcisti

In questi giorni in TV, sulle piattaforme e sui social viene annunciata la prossima uscita in aprile del film L’esorcista del Papa (The Pope’s Exorcist), per la regia dell’australiano Julius Avery. Il titolo è già in sé pretenzioso. La visione del trailer del film conferma, semmai ve ne fosse bisogno, non solo la sua qualità da cinema splatter, vero e proprio sotto-genere del cinema horror, ma la sua inattendibilità su un tema così delicato e rilevante.

Al centro del film è collocata la figura di Don Gabriele Amorth (1925-2016), esorcista della Diocesi di Roma per un trentennio, interpretata dall’attore neozelandese Russell Crowe, noto al grande pubblico per essere stato il protagonista del film Il gladiatore, che gli valse l’Oscar nel 2001.

Dopo aver visionato il trailer, ci preme offrire alcuni rilievi, in attesa di vedere e valutare il film nella sua interezza quando sarà nelle sale. In quell’occasione seguirà un eventuale comunicato più approfondito.

Trascurando ciò che a prima vista sembra essere citazione di altre pellicole (come, ad esempio, l’esorcista che finisce per essere lui un posseduto), rileviamo, anzitutto, che il noto attore di Hollywood non ricorda affatto nell’aspetto, ma soprattutto nei modi, il profilo umano e sacerdotale di Don Amorth, dalle cui memorie (Un esorcista racconta e Nuovi racconti di un esorcista) – precisa la produzione – è liberamente tratto il film. Fin troppo liberamente, ci verrebbe da osservare.

Alla produzione e al regista interessa probabilmente l’associazione “a effetto” fra l’esorcista e il celebre gladiatore di vent’anni or sono, e non lo spirito di servizio che muove il primo nel suo ministero della consolazione. La Chiesa cattolica viene poi rappresentata da un papa altrettanto poco credibile, interpretato dall’attore italiano Franco Nero. Infine, gli ambienti vaticani, dipinti con la solita collaudata gamma di tinte chiaroscurali, danno al film un effetto “alla Codice da Vinci”, per insinuare nel pubblico il solito dubbio: chi è il vero nemico? Il diavolo o il “potere” ecclesiastico?

Concludiamo queste brevi considerazioni con un riferimento ai cosiddetti “effetti speciali”, immancabili in ogni film dedicato al tema della possessione diabolica. Come già avvenuto in altre pellicole tutto viene esasperato, con manifestazioni eclatanti sul piano fisico e verbale, tipiche dei film horror.

Ora, tale modo di raccontare l’esperienza esorcistica di Don Amorth, oltre ad essere contrario alla realtà storica, stravolge e falsifica ciò che veramente si vive e si sperimenta durante l’esorcismo di persone veramente possedute che noi, esorcisti cattolici, celebriamo secondo le direttive impartite dalla Chiesa. In più, è offensivo nei riguardi dello stato di sofferenza in cui versano quanti sono vittime di un’azione straordinaria del demonio.

Quanto allo spettatore, che dire?

L’esorcismo così rappresentato diventa uno spettacolo finalizzato a suscitare forti e malsane emozioni, grazie ad una scenografia cupa, con effetti sonori tali da suscitare soltanto ansia, inquietudine e paura nello spettatore.

Il risultato finale è di infondere la convinzione che l’esorcismo sia un fenomeno abnorme, mostruoso e pauroso, il cui unico protagonista è il demonio, le cui reazioni violente si possono fronteggiare con grande difficoltà; il che è l’esatto contrario di ciò che si verifica nel contesto dell’esorcismo celebrato nella Chiesa Cattolica in obbedienza alle direttive da essa impartite.

Ben diversa risulta la visione del film Libera nos. Il trionfo sul male, da tempo in distribuzione e patrocinato dall’Associazione Internazionale Esorcisti, nel quale viene mostrato che cosa è veramente l’esorcismo nella Chiesa Cattolica, quali sono i tratti autentici del prete esorcista e come l’esorcismo sia un evento altamente gioioso, perché, mentre si fa esperienza viva della presenza e dell’azione di Cristo Signore e della Comunione dei Santi, coloro che sono tormentati dall’azione straordinaria del demonio ritrovano progressivamente la liberazione e la pace.

PS: immagini tratte dal trailer

Reflection and encouragement on how to deal spiritually with the difficult and delicate world situation following the spread of Covid-19, commonly called Coronavirus

Reflection and encouragement

on how to deal spiritually with the difficult and delicate world situation following the spread of Covid-19, commonly called Coronavirus

(WE ARE VERY SORRY FOR ERRORS IN TRANSLATION)

We wish to offer indications so that we correctly set up our theological reflection and our spiritual attitude towards the serious event of the spread of Covid-19, commonly called Coronavirus, which is afflicting the whole world at the moment.

As healthy theology teaches us, every time we ask ourselves why something happens (and therefore we ask ourselves about its causes), in order to be correct, every discourse must start from the first cause, that is from God, Who he either wants them in himself, acting to make them happen, or he wants them by accidens, that is, he allows them. It is not always possible to grasp the reasons that justify God’s provident action (the so-called “reasons of convenience”); on the contrary, in the light of Revelation and experience we can affirm that most of them God keeps them hidden until the day of Judgment, enough for now the certainty of faith that the Providence of God extends from one border to another with strength and governs everything with excellent goodness (cf. Wis 8: 1), that of five sparrows, which sell for two pennies, not one of them is forgotten before God (cf. Lk 12: 6); that even the hair of our head is all counted and that we are worth more than many sparrows (cf. Lk, 12,7); that everything contributes to the good of those who love God (cf. Rom 8:28); and that Almighty God, being supremely good, would never allow any evil to exist in his works, if it were not powerful and good enough to derive good from evil itself (cf. Catechism Catholic Church No. 311).

After God, the first cause, in questioning why something happens, it is necessary to take into consideration the secondary causes, that is, the creatures that He has made, among which the efficient cause must be sought, that is, the one that produced the effect on which we are investigating.

We know, by faith, that some times behind certain events there is, as an efficient cause, Satan, who, however, always and only moves by divine permission and, when God is allowed to act, while wishing to do evil , in fact it does the good in spite of it. A very pregnant example is offered to us in the story of Job, whose misfortunes have Satan as an efficient cause.

That Job’s sufferings have the Evil as their immediate cause, we only know by revelation, because it is not at all evident to the external observer that it was Satan who caused them. Not even Job himself was self-evident. However, behind Job’s immense pain there was Satan as an efficient cause or not, in the end this is irrelevant. And this also applies to us today in the face of Coronavirus.

In fact, with regard to the Coronavirus, we do not have evidence that the devil is its efficient cause, either by acting on the forces of nature to produce it and to spread it, or by inspiring men to make it (if it were true, as some claim, that it is was produced in the laboratory and then deliberately released or escaped control). In any case, even if one day we had to have this evidence, it would always be of secondary importance, as it would only concern the second cause of the Coronavirus and would not give sufficient elements to answer the reasons related to the first Cause. In fact, the most important question would remain: “Why did God permit it?”.

If we look at Job, we notice that he does not ask himself if a bad spirit struck him and, if so, why he did it. This does not matter to Job, while he cares to know why God allowed all that evil in his life. The whole drama of Job (the loss of property, the death of children, the turning against him of his wife and his friends and that plague that upsets him in the body from top to toe) revolves around the question: “Why does God have allowed this? “. And it is only when, with God’s help, Job finds an adequate answer to this excruciating question that his drama is resolved: his justice is confirmed, his faith becomes greater than he had before and his love for God and his abandonment in him becomes truly total.

Consequently, hitting the demon stating, or even just assuming, that he is the efficient, immediate cause of the Coronavirus, does not hit the target, rather, misses the target, because the most important question to ask is not on the secondary causes, but on the First Cause: “Why did God want it or allow it?”. To which the other question necessarily follows: “In this situation, what does God want of me?”

And the answer is the one given to us by the Church in an authoritative way, through the recent Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary on the granting of special Indulgences to the faithful in the current pandemic situation, where we are urged to consider with faith spirit the ‘epidemic currently underway, to live it in terms of personal conversion.

And it can only be this way. Jesus himself (just read the first nine verses of Lk 13), makes us understand that in the face of all the disasters caused by natural events or by man, the most important thing to do is to convert us to God, to return to him.

To bring up the devil on these occasions is to make a mistake; it is, above all, putting yourself in a very dangerous spiritual attitude, because it only causes discouragement and loss of strength. The devil certainly exists, but is invisible by nature and tends to hide by strategic choice. We are therefore dealing with an enemy from which, humanly speaking, we do not know how to defend ourselves, a problem, however, resolved, if we learned to be like children in the arms of the Mother, that is, of the Madonna; like lambs on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd, that is, of Jesus; as children, in the paternal womb of God. When we are there, who can touch us, who can really harm us? “If the Lord is with us, who will be against us?” Is it not true that “everything contributes to the good of those who love God”?

The winning strategy is, in all cases, to understand Coronavirus as an appeal that the Lord is making to us because we truly return to him with all our heart, converting ourselves to the good life of the Gospel. Those who accept this appeal will not receive any harm from this disease, even those who, for its cause, should die. After all, it is Jesus who says: “What good is it for man to gain the whole world, if he then loses or ruins himself?” (cf. Lk 9:25) “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you in addition” (cf. Mt 6:33).

Let us therefore fix our gaze where God wants us to fix it at this moment, that is, on him, on the face of Jesus, on his cross, on his Gospel.

The words put by Guareschi on Don Camillo’s mouth in the sermon made during the flood also apply to the present situation: “The waters tumultuously leave the river bed and overwhelm everything: but one day they will return to their placid river and will return to shine the sun. And if, in the end, you have lost everything, you will still be rich if you have not lost faith in God. But whoever doubts the goodness and justice of God will be poor and miserable even if he has saved everything. ”

We take this opportunity to invite everyone to pray in the family and individually, unanimously in praying to Jesus, so that through the intercession of Mary Immaculate and St. Michael the Archangel he will give us the light and strength of faith and the grace of deliverance from all evil.

Rome, March 25, 2020

Annunciation of the Lord