Customer Reviews

The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a well-written book by a journalist who covers an American priest's sabbatical in Rome to learn how to administer exorcism. The book lays a solid foundation for understanding both the practical and theological underpinnings of the actions of demons as understood by the Catholic Church and its measured response to claims of possession. One of the things that makes the book interesting is the reserved and often skeptical approach that the Church takes evaluating claims of possession and its insistence that psychiatric and other disorders be ruled out before proceeding forward. Another strong aspect of the book is that it shows the education and apprenticeship that the priest undergoes in becoming appointed as the exorcist for a diocese. The author does an excellent job of describing the personalities of the key subjects of the book and presents descriptions of exorcisms in a very measured way. If you are looking for a book that covers an obscure part of the Catholic Church in a respectful and matter-of-fact manner, The Rite would be an excellent choice.

This question (my review headline) was recently asked of me by the Jesuit President of a famous Jesuit university after I had announced to a small group that Rev. Gary Thomas, an exorcist, would be one of our featured guests in the 2010-2011 Oakland Diocese's Catholics@Work Speakers Series. His disparaging response is characteristic of today's American Catholic Clergy as many find the concept of the Devil and exorcism to be a sideshow that no "serious minded "priest would lose time considering and would just as soon forget.

Those who doubt the existence of evil and the Devil are reminded in "The Rite" to be mindful of French poet Charles Baudelaire's philosophic proclamation - "the Devil had finally convinced the world that he no longer existed."

Fortunately, an unintentional spoiler has come along - Matt Baglio, an ambivalent "cultural" Catholic who was living in Italy as a freelance writer and Vatican journalist. In 2005, Baglio heard that one of the Vatican universities was offering a course entitled "Exorcism and the Prayer of Liberation." While writing about exorcism was not at the top of his list of subjects to write about, Baglio was curious, believing this might be a public relations stunt, registered for the course, and ended up writing "The Rite" about his experience and observations.

Baglio quickly learned that the students were anything but superstitious or puritanical and befriended fellow American Fr. Thomas who impressed him with his honesty and transparency. This marked the beginning of an important journey that both would make together. For Fr. Thomas, a story of a "remarkable American priest who answered the call of his Bishop to become the appointed exorcist for his diocese...who delved deeply into a world he never knew existed, completing the course and participating in over 80 exorcisms along with a senior Italian exorcist. As a result, his view of the world - and his place in it - changed dramatically." For Baglio, a story of journalist reconnecting with his faith in a way he never intended or expected, experiencing a "phenomenon" that filled him with immense joy, also changing his view of the world and his place in it.

Baglio's "The Rite" provides a compelling, hard to put down story that believers and non-believers alike will find satisfying and provocative. He provides an intelligent, myth-busting look at exorcism that explains what the Church really teaches about demonic possession, what the priest and the victim experience, and the critical role of an exorcist in today's orthodox secularist society.

The book is being adapted to film and is presently being shot in Budapest with Anthony Hopkins playing Thomas's teacher. The film is to be released in January 2011.

I highly recommend "The Rite" and bet it will also change your view of the world and your place in it.

Baglio was a journalist in Rome when he heard about a new class at a Vatican-affiliated university on exorcism. Fascinated if the church in fact still believed in it, he attended and met one Fr. Gary. This American priest came to provide this interesting window into exorcism today in the Roman Catholic church.

This is a great read about how the American bishops were encouraged to appoint a priest to be trained in Rome as their exorcist. Californian Fr. Gary is such an appointee, and then the book unfolds his trip to Rome, class and development as a certified exorcist.

Not all of this was new to me, except that I too had the major misperception that the Rite of Exorcism, if done properly, cast the demon/s out immediately. Fr. Gary discovers this also, that for some it took decades. The proliferation of demon activity in Italy shocked me as well, but shouldn't as we know the proliferation of the occult is growing worldwide. So much for all spirituality being the same.

We Lutherans concur with this belief that the devil and his cohorts are real and active. Before my being certified at Seminary to be eligible for a call into the ministry, three sem professors questioned me for three solid hours on theological matters. At the end, one asked: do you believe in exorcism. I quickly answered yes. They then demanded that I provide evidence supporting this from Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, which I did. They then asked what I would do to determine that a person was potentially demon possessed, and how I would proceed. I responded with much the same criteria that is used in this book by these exorcists, and that I would contact them to find out how to proceed.

Many Christians besides Roman Catholics hold these same Biblical views about demon possession and exorcism. Interested parties will want to read two good volumes on this: J.W. Montgomery edited a great volume: Demon Possession, and Kurt E. Koch's "Occult Bondage and Deliverance."

This book gives a bird's eye view of the Roman Catholic Church in training a priest to be an exorcist. This book is excellent because the author presents the topic of exorcism from the view point of an objective investigation done by a top notch news reporter. You get to see how a priest is trained to deal with Satan and his demons using the power of prayer, blessings and rituals in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This book should be read by any one interested in demonology or thinking about entering the priesthood.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book as I did not read the reviews on Amazon prior to reading it. I am not religious but it peaked my curiosity. Well I did like it. The book delves into the history of church sanctioned excorcists and their training. The reader follows one American priest's journey of training for the exorcist program in Rome. He observes all types of exorcisms - from very mild ones that require just a blessing, to very violent ones that need repeated treatment. The author also discusses the church history of angels and demons and theories from both believers and non-believers. I recommend this book to anyone that is interested in the topic. I found it to be fairly grounded.

I am a Catholic but hadn't given too much credence to exorcists nor to demonic possession---both seemed pretty Fundamentalist in nature to me. It was our Pentecostal friends after all who nattered on and on about demons and curses.

Being Catholic, however, I also know that we see and experience a tiny sliver of all that is, with much eluding us.

With that in mind I read "The Rite: The Making of A Modern Exorcist" with an open mind.

Having read it, I am a believer.

It is not the lurid details of some of the episodes related---nothing matches the drama depicted in the movie "The Exorcist" and thus nothing shocks me.

What compelled my belief was the simple mundanity of the exorcist's lot.

Father Gary Thomas, the subject of the book, does not claim to know much of anything about demonic possession nor what drives it. He relates some speculation, but that's about it. He does demonstrate that there are people who cannot find help for what ails them through doctors and psychiatrists nor through the normal sacrament of anointment the Church offers. They find help only through exorcism.

This is not to say that "The Rite" is a New Agey therapeutic book. Far from it. It concerns spiritual warfare as seen (and unseen) by the participants.

It is a riveting read for skeptic and believer alike.

I am rating this five stars because of its usefulness and original content. I found the book didn't move very quickly when it started off and I began to wonder if our subject would ever truly become an exorcist. Although, for me, this wasn't particularly a page turner at first, once it took off it was hard to put down. Also, it presents things that even the most harsh critic would be hard put to dismiss. I learned a tremendous amount about exorcism in this book as well as demons. For those of rational and logical bent it also has various psychological and scientific attempts to explain the phenomena. I found some things too far beyond the pale to be logically explained away. For example, when flushing out frauds the exorcist, knowing that demons speak all languages, will do the exorcism in a language unknown to the person being exorcised. Sometimes they will read poetry and literature in those languages. If a person reacts violently to poetry they are a fraud. A demon will react only to the parts that are the actual rite to exorcise them. Are demons real? You be the judge. If you read, The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, and are sure demons don't exist, you will be a little less sure. This book is unique and fills a niche not filled by the numerous books on demons.

Matt Baglio was a freelance journalist living in Rome when he learned about a class the Vatican was offering on exorcism that was open to the public. Mr. Baglio thought it would give him enough information to write an article if he attended the class. He was wrong, from what he learned in class and contacts made, the author was able to write this book and has a new look on life.

In this class Mr. Baglio met and an American Priest from California who was appointed by his bishop to become the diocese exorcist. The book is written mainly as a biography of this priest, Father Gary Thomas. So with the investigative eye of a journalist, the insights of the exorcist and interviews of the subjects of some exorcisms we are given a glimpse into the world where good still battles evil.

The small biography of Father Thomas is a fast read that shows the sad truth that most priest do not even believe in the devil until the come face to face with pure evil. This was where Father Thomas was until he started the class to become an exorcist and actually started attending some exorcism. Every diocese is supposed to have an official exorcist appointed but the majority live in Italy and there is only a handful in the U.S.A. Most countries have none at all.

The author also covers the teachings of the Catholic Church on demonic possession and the basis for the belief in the rite of exorcism. Through Father Thomas' eyes we are shown different forms of possession and learn that each exorcist is a unique individual with his own strength and weaknesses. In order for the rite to be successful both the possessed and the exorcist must have faith in God. For the rite is a manifestation of God's benevolence and deliverance and the priest is only the conduit of His grace as a priest is for all the sacraments. And there is no standard situation when it comes to demonic possession or for how long the exorcism could take, which can sometimes years.

I found this a very interesting read and the author has a very short section at the end where he shares from his own personal experience from his time researching for this books. The author also provides copious notes and a bibliography. From his own words it is obvious he has many more notes from which he can pull from. So perhaps the author will write a book from his own perspective giving us a look behind the Rite and delve deeper into the subject. The book is a good yet brief introduction to the subject matter.

This book works in three different ways. First off, its a biography of the priest who goes to Italy, to learn how to be an exorcist. Second, it offers a very humanistic view of the cultural phenomena of demonic posession in modern Italy, and third, it examines the theological perspectives of the Catholic church and its connection to modern exorcism. It succeeds on each level, tho I wouldnt think it has as much of the heavy duty modern catholic theology, if produced purely for the clergy. The first part of the book tells how Father Gary Thomas becomes sellected by his bishop, to move to Rome for a year, to take part in a symposium on demonic posession, and also, to apprentice under a working exorcist. Since the book is written from Fr. Thomas' point of view (tho in third person), it's more engaging on an emotional level. Since we see demonic posession in what seem to be normal, everyday people of all ages and walks of life, we easily identify with the posessed, so we're less likely to either intellectualize the suffering of the posessed, or the horror of the exorcists who face these hellish angels.

I was fascinated by the theology of the book. Apparently, demonic posession is believed by two types of churches in modern America. First, fundamentalist churches believe that all kinds of common behavior can be demonically produced, ie, colds, car accidents, addiction, interest in heavy metal music, etc. If this is your point of view, i'd steer clear of this book. Because THE RITE is written from the Catholic perspective of Posession. Altho posession goes all the way back to the beginning of the Christian religion, when Jesus delivered many suffering people from devils, after the advent of modern science, and espeically psychology, exorcism has been an embarrassment to the catholic church. THE RITE made clear, that before an excorcism may be preformed, first a psychiatrist, then a doctor must look for scientific rational explinations. After that, the priest "tests" the spirit. If there is no underlying psychosis, or hysterical conversion, or epilypsy, or brain tumor, etc, and if the exorcist beleives that a demon is in the person, and if the bishop ALLOWS the rite, then an exorcism can proceed. In the Italian culture, excorcism is as common as capichino. It's widely believed that curses, unsuccessful abortion attempts, messing around with the occult, etc, are all precursors to demonic pocession. Some people go to exorcists every month, or week, for years, where the exorcist provides COMFORT, instead of a complete cures. Father Gary, watches an old pro preform the ROMAN RITE on all sorts of people, who have reactions ranging from yawning, to the full blown "Linda Blair" freak outs. (Altho strong reactions are VERY rare.) We also meet Father Amouth, who wrote "An Exorcist Tells his Story", and believes that ALL bishops need an exorcist in their dioceses. The rational behind this resurrenge in Exorcism, is the huge growth of interest in Wicca, Satanism, the Occult, and other dark practices, in the USA and western Europe. These dark, demonic interests have lead to behavior, that the Catholic church NEEDs to address. If Father Amouth's suggestion is to be followed, then a LOT of exorcists are going to need to be trained, and apprenticed, to deal with the PASTORIAL CONCERNS of the Catholic community, even if it does seem mideaval to the modern mind. My first reaction to the book was, "Is this a put on? Do modern educated people actually beleive in REAL demonic possession?" Having read the book, i have to admit, demon posession is real, if your faith is based on Christ's teachings. But it also seems to be a cultural element in the phenomina, and an element not unlike faith healing. But the best books leave you with questions, as well as information anyway. Its not only the catholic church, and the fundamentalists who accept the doctrine of demonic posession. Anglican priests like Dr. Craig Isaacs, (who's also a psychiatrist) see disease as illness of body, mind and spirit. The body is cured by medical doctors, the mind by psychologists, and the spirit by priests trained driving out demons.

If the scientific, and theological content of the book is to be doubted, you only need to turn to the back of the book, where the author places over 40 pages of footnotes to the book, and a selective bibliography that runs 10 pages, including an INDEX! So, this is not your NATIONAL ENQUIRE type sensationalist book about DEVIL BOY INHABITS BEARDED LADY. So, this book should appeal to many. First off, catholics, and those in the catholic ministry, who are interested in having their theological preconceptions about demonic posession reevaluated. Second, anyone investigating the phenomenia of demonic posession, perhaps compairing the modern day catholic view, with simular phenomina in indiginous African religions, still seen today in Haiti, for example. Christian psychologists who deal with patients that believe they have a devil within them, may gleen a little backround information, perhaps breaking the delusion of their patient, or even asking themselves if they DO see signs of the demonic in some. On the other hand, a fundamentalist church member, might feel offended by some of the material here. Also, if you believe you might have committed the "unforgiveable sin" (a VERY common delusion of the psychotic), i would steer clear of this book. No one who may be harmed by this information psycholgically, or spiritually, should get into this book. Naturally, those with a normal curiousity about such things, would find this book very interesting, not filled with techical theological or psychological terminolgy. THE RITE is a fascinating book filled with sociological insight, human interest, and modern insight on a cultural phenomina found THRUOUT THE WORLD....that human beings can be posessed by demonic powers. Even the most suspicious about posession, may find themselves coming away from the book believing it may be more t han superstition. Posession isnt just for Hollywood or the middle ages any more. Here's a very good book, to find out WHY.

With a plethora of exorcism movies available for viewing consumption, the subject itself has always been viewed as either an archaic act of old world superstitious wizardry or a scream feast with friends while watching one of those said movies. Matt Baglio's The Rite was a very enlightening and informative read that demystified preconceived perceptions that I, as a reader, had, primarily that the rite is the last step taken in a long medical odyssey. When all options, psychiatric and otherwise fail, then the rite of exorcism is involved and the name of Jesus Christ is invoked, the ultimate exorciser. Due to a rapid increase in exorcism and deliverance (the latter of which can be performed by any nondenominational faith-filled Christian) demands, the church, specifically the Catholic Church, found itself woefully ill equipped to help people in their struggles; ironically, members of the clergy were just as skeptical and dismissive of the rite as the secularist public at large was. But that all changed when an exorcism course was offered at the North American College (NAC), the largest American Catholic seminary on international ground. The course was taught in the division of the Continuing Theological Education. One American priest, a former funeral director named Fr. Gary Thomas, was one of the new students to partake in this academic offering; it was not his choosing but rather an appointment or nomination of him by his bishop. Seeing the sabbatical to Rome, Catholicism's epicenter, as a rejuvenating and reminding grace of his priestly ordination, Fr. Gary did not fully know what he was in for. On entering the campus, which was decked out with the most updated technology and ergonomically correct furnishings, for him, the school was outfitted more for the power suites of Silicon Valley than for monks, nuns and clerics. Trying to get settled in and overcoming the language barrier, he gradually learned that exorcisms and deliverances were performed almost daily in the side offices of priests in Rome and in the outskirts. The frequency was quite astonishing, like an in/out procedure whereby people on their lunch breaks would go for a minor shock operation to the soul which exorcism is supposed to provide. Bit by bit, Fr. Gary learned that the best way to fully understand exorcism is to get apprenticed by a senior one whose had years of experience. Ultimately, he learned under Capuchin Fr. Carmine De Filippis who had been doing the rite since 1987. In a tiny area near his office, a waiting line develops. When Fr. Carmine is ready, he invites the victim into his space and starts off with a very simple prayer. If that prayer elicits a violent reaction accompanied by other signs that only an experienced exorcist can discern (through the eyes), the rite is followed through with. At the beginning, Fr. Gary was extremely underwhelmed, for the whole procedure seemed so mundane and organized, and the reactions of the possessed did not mirror anything as portrayed in The Exorcist. Over time, he learned of the causes and effects of demonic possession and of how the names Satan and Lucifer do not necessarily connote lone entities but rather a grouping of minions who fall under that heading. He learned of curses, the stages leading to full-on possession, starting with infestation, oppression, obsession, et cetera, occult practices, that black and white magic is satanic in origin and onward. He also learned that God allows possession to happen, but that the outcome will always have a greater goodness that will result, a result that will be beyond full human comprehension; the primary benefit is that people will go back to the sacraments. Additionally, as part of his training, he too met one-on-one with the possessed. One riveting account was of a women, who, before birth, was dedicated to Satan; her life from the very get-go, was one of struggle and interior darkness. Another particular case that was briefly mentioned was too disturbing and gross to be mentioned on a public forum. Suffice it to say, it involved a bucket and what was vomited into it. Some of the people had been exorcised for years but with minimal results to show for it. However, results at least showed, something that doctors could unfortunately not claim. Also, there were married victims and even possessed clergy. The last category, as explained in the book, is supposedly not too surprising, for the religious who are closest to God are always intensely attacked. Look at the examples of Saints Padre Pio and Gemma Galgani. Lastly, Fr. Gary learned that when he established his exorcism ministry in CA he should assemble a team of medical doctors to comb through the symptoms with meticulous care before a religious assessment can be applied, for science and medicine must work in tandem with religion. More often than not, the cases are psychological and out of the range of experience of the priest. But in The Rite, the demonically verified cases that are profiled, each one, from the mundane to the extreme, were very chilling and hard to turn your intellect away from. It can make you come away and say, Yes, this is genuinely possible. Matt Baglio's book was very informative and casual, if not slightly disturbing and off the cuff with day-to-day normality. He wrote it with an investigative eye and ear, doubtful at first but more open-minded in the end. His experience with the unknown, his moment with the Odor of Sanctity, was very moving and human. Forget Hollywood and their dramatic interpretation, using excessive ceremonial opulence and fanfare, for truth really is stranger than fiction. Definitely a good and compelling read.