He was known as “the Pope’s exorcist.” Father Gabriele Amorth performed exorcisms for the Rome Diocese of the Catholic church. In fact, as he told me personally when I met him and toured his facility, several popes sent their toughest cases of demonic possession to him. Fr. Amorth was a blunt man who condemned Harry Potter, called yoga a work of Satan, and declared, “I’m not afraid of the devil. The devil is afraid of me.” He died a few weeks ago on September 16 at 91 years of age.
He was gracious with his time when I met with him, signing my collector’s edition of an actual 1733 hand-calligraphy edition of “The Rituale Romanum,” the Catholic ritual of exorcism (Our International School of Exorcism has two courses devoted to understanding this ritual and the history of exorcism in the Catholic church. To enroll CLICK HERE.) He showed Laura and me his private chamber where prayers for deliverance from demons were offered. With no one but a few nuns to help him, he showed me the gurney and nylon straps he used to tie down violent cases. After a lengthy conversation he offered to bless both of us, a deeply moving moment. When he finished he gave us a smile and said, “You have no demons, only angels.”
As a Protestant, I do exorcisms a little differently. Understandably, we diverged on some theological issues. But my conversation with Fr. Amorth left no doubt that we both serve the same Lord and fight the same devil. One has to admire and respect what this dear man of God did so faithfully for so long, even when he faced considerable opposition in his own Church. I am saddened to see him depart, but his war with demons is now over. He leaves that mission to those of us who are called to continue where he left off. May we diligently carry on the work of our Savior who declared in the Great Commission (Mark 16:15-18), “In my name you will cast out demons.”
An encouraging word: THE GOSPEL IS EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE
The Great Commission of Christ in Mark 16 contains a remarkable footnote in verse 20: “And they went out and preached everywhere.” EVERYWHERE! That’s true Christianity. Sadly, today the spreading of the gospel has often been left to well-marketed megachurches or slickly-produced Christian TV shows. But in the beginning of the church it was everyone, everywhere who told people about Jesus. You, my friend are “everyone” if you claim Christ as your Savior. And “everywhere” is your leisure, your labor, and everything in between. Today, wherever you are, tell someone about Jesus.
Bob Larson has trained healing and deliverance teams all over the world to set the captives free and Do What Jesus Did® (Luke 4:18). You can partner with Bob and support this vision to demonstrate God’s power in action by calling 303-980-1511 or clicking here to donate online.
