Gabriele Amorth claimed that he performed more than 100,000 exorcisms between 1986 and 2016 — but he said that only 100 of them were true cases of demonic possession.
TCD/Prod.DB/Alamy Stock PhotoFather Gabriele Amorth, the priest who inspired the 2023 horror film The Pope’s Exorcist.
Father Gabriele Amorth once claimed to have conducted over 60,000 exorcisms over the course of his life. That’s a staggering number by any stretch of the imagination, but the story became even wilder when, just before his death in 2016, Amorth said the number was actually more than 100,000 — and that he did not fear the Devil; the Devil feared him.
There was perhaps no better expert on exorcisms than Father Amorth. He started as an assistant to the former chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Ugo Poletti, then succeeded him and maintained his position for nearly three decades. During that time, he wrote a book about his experiences, titled An Exorcist Tells His Story, and founded the International Association of Exorcists. Being an exorcist was truly Amorth’s life’s work.
And if you’re thinking that this all sounds like ripe fodder for a movie, studio heads at Sony Pictures would agree. Amorth’s work is the true story behind The Pope’s Exorcist, the 2023 horror film starring Russell Crowe. That said, the International Association of Exorcists has spoken out against the movie, claiming it does not portray history — or exorcisms — accurately. Amorth himself was a fan of 1973’s The Exorcist, though, so what about this new film was so off-putting to the association?
To understand that, it’s important to first understand Gabriele Amorth’s story — and some of the controversial statements he made over the years.
How Gabriele Amorth Went From Italian Resistance Fighter To Priest
Gabriele Amorth was born on May 1, 1925, in Modena, Italy. As a teenager, he joined the Italian resistance movement against the Nazis and his own country’s fascist government. After the war, he followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and studied law, later becoming deputy to future Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti.
Then, in 1946, Amorth changed course. He joined the Society of St. Paul and began working as a journalist for Catholic media. Five years later, on Jan. 24, 1951, he was ordained as a priest.
But it wasn’t until 1986, when Amorth was 61 years old, that he started performing exorcisms.
colaimages/Alamy Stock PhotoCardinal Ugo Poletti, pictured here in the 1970s, taught Father Gabriele Amorth much of what he knew about exorcisms.
“When the Pope’s Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Ugo Poletti, unexpectedly granted me the faculty of exorcist, I did not guess the immensity of the world that he had opened up to me or the multitudes who would flock to my ministry,” Amorth wrote in the opening to An Exorcist Tells His Story.
Amorth described his appointment as a “great grace,” and it introduced him to many believers from all around the world. Exorcists are few and far between, so people from across Europe flocked to Amorth when they felt they required his services. In fact, if Amorth’s claims are to be believed, the number of people who sought him out could be in the tens of thousands.
How Many Exorcisms Did Gabriele Amorth Perform?
To understand how Amorth could have dispelled so many demons over the course of his 30-year career, it’s important to consider what Amorth considered an exorcism. In his book, Amorth debunked some myths about what, exactly, an exorcism entails. By his definition, it is not quite what is shown in the movies. Rather, an exorcism can be as small as an individual prayer that takes just “a few minutes” to speak or a drawn-out ritual that may last “many hours.”
This is different than what was shown on screen in the 2023 Russell Crowe film inspired by Amorth’s life. Although The Pope’s Exorcist is based on a true story, it takes many liberties with Amorth’s work.
Abaca Press/Alamy Stock PhotoA photograph of a possessed person on display in Rome in 2010.
According to the Associated Press, Amorth admitted that most of the people who came to see him — 98 percent — really needed the help of a psychiatrist rather than an exorcist.
Of the 100,000 exorcisms he performed, Amorth admitted that only around 100 or so actually involved what he considered to be demonic possession. However, he wrote in his biography that he could only tell if someone was truly possessed by actually performing an exorcism: “Only through the exorcism itself can we determine with certainty whether there is a satanic influence.”
In this sense, Amorth viewed exorcisms as a sort of all-in-one solution to diagnose, prevent, and repel evil. He even wrote, “An unnecessary exorcism never harmed anyone.” But even if very few of the exorcisms Amorth performed during his career involved demons by his definition, there was never a shortage of demand for his services.
TCD/Prod.DB/Alamy Stock PhotoFather Gabriele Amorth with a woman named “Rosa,” who underwent nine exorcisms to remove what she and Amorth believed to be a demon from within her.
“The ritual of exorcism is not practiced by an ordinary priest,” Amorth told director William Friedkin in a 2016 interview published in Vanity Fair. “An exorcist requires specific training and must be thought to have a personal sanctity. He can be exposed to dangerous behavior and personal threat. His prayers often cause a violent response as he attempts to shine a beam of light into the darkness.”
However, for all Amorth’s piety, he sometimes proved to be a controversial figure.
The Controversies Surrounding The Famed Exorcist
“Today, Satan rules the world,” Amorth said during his interview with Friedkin. “The masses no longer believe in God. And, yes, Satan is in the Vatican.”
Sony Pictures EntertainmentUnlike Russell Crowe in The Pope’s Exorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth never became possessed himself.
This is just one of many contentious claims made by Amorth over the course of his career. The Vatican is, of course, no stranger to controversy, especially as various scandals wrack the Church year after year. But rarely has an official member of the Vatican been so outspoken against the institution — and few would go so far as to suggest the Devil himself influenced the Church.
Amorth’s statements weren’t limited to criticism of the Catholic Church, though.
The priest reportedly made statements in the past claiming that both Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler were possessed by the Devil, and in 2011, he even declared that yoga was likewise the work of Satan.
Yoga wasn’t the only satanic pastime Amorth rebuked, though. According to the priest, using ouija boards and “reading Harry Potter” were also gateways to demons.
One of Amorth’s most controversial accusations involved the disappearance of 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi. Orlandi vanished without a trace in June 1983, and Amorth said she had been kidnapped for a sex party involving Vatican police and foreign diplomats and then murdered.
Mondadori Portfolio/Getty ImagesA missing person’s poster issued after the 1983 disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi.
Even after his death, Gabriele Amorth’s life remained a topic of debate. As the true story behind The Pope’s Exorcist, Amorth’s work reached a new generation when the film was released in 2023.
In one of his last interviews, published in the magazine Faithful Insight, Amorth once again said the world had left God behind: “We see it in laws that go totally against nature such as divorce, abortion, ‘gay marriage.'” Amorth said God would “admonish humanity in a very powerful manner” for these perceived crimes against nature.
Father Amorth died on Sept. 16, 2016, at the age of 91. In his last moments, he reportedly said, “When I get to the Good Place I will continue to fight the Devil even harder.”
After learning about Father Gabriele Amorth and the true story behind The Pope’s Exorcist, dive into the tales of nine real exorcisms that Hollywood could never show. Or, read about the gruesome crimes of Hans Schmidt, the only priest ever executed in the U.S.
