The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist

by Matt Baglio

  MODERN SATANISM, say experts, borrows from a number of historical traditions, and its tenets are hard to pin down. There is no unified belief system, as some members of the same group may become involved for more abstract practices while others do so for carnal.

  The Gnostics in the mid-second century heavily promoted the notion that Satan was a godlike being with certain powers. Later condemned by the Church as heretics, the Gnostics believed that the material world was too full of evil to have been created by a good God. Therefore, they proposed a dualist system whereby God was distant and unknowable while Satan was the creator of the physical world. Later, in the Middle Ages, the Cathars took up this theory once again, even going so far as to say that the Catholic Church was established by the Devil to mislead people. This emphasis on the material world having been created by Satan wasn't for the purposes of worshiping him, but to more powerfully oppose him. But this view was easily perverted by certain groups who put the Devil on an equal footing with God.

  In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, on the heels of the revolutions in America and France and in the midst of the Enlightenment, Satan's desire to rebel against God was cast as a bid for freedom. The Church, seen by some as being too authoritarian, was accused of repressing man's natural carnal desires. As a result, numerous groups sprang up, including the infamous Hellfire Club led by the rake Sir Francis Dashwood, which, while not necessarily believing in the reality of a personified Satan, still espoused a hedonistic lifestyle involving supposed orgies and other debaucheries done in the Devil's name.

  According to Father Bamonte, who also authored a book on the occult, there are two currents of Satanism. In the first, known as “personal,” adepts actually believe that Satan is a physical entity, a god who can be prayed to and who will grant certain privileges, such as money and fame, if offered sacrifices. While in the second, known as “impersonal,” acolytes hold that Satan represents more of a force or energy, a part of the cosmos that can be developed and used to serve them.

  In both the “personal” and the “impersonal” currents of Satanism, the power of the individual is exalted above anything else, while the seven capital sins are celebrated. As Father Bamonte says, “The key to understanding them is to know their motto, ‘Do what you want; that is the only law.’” Beyond this basic view, the groups themselves can also be very diverse.

  Father Aldo Buonaiuto, a member of the Pope John XXIII Community Association, has been working with ex-cult members for some time. Small in stature, Father Buonaiuto sports a collegiate handsomeness and a perpetual five-o'clock shadow. His appearance and mild demeanor seem completely out of place in the world of devil worship and murder. And yet, author of a book on the occult, Le mani occulte: viaggio nel mondo del satanismo (The Hands of the Occult, a Voyage into the World of Satanism), he is considered an expert on the subject and was recently asked to collaborate with the SAS.

  During the course of his work, Father Buonaiuto has come up with different designations within satanic cults. The first, which he calls “Youth Acid,” consists of mostly young people into the physical trappings of Satanism, the hedonistic lifestyle mixed with drugs, selfmutilation, pedophilia, suicide, and even murder to provide human sacrifices. The second designation, known as “Power Satanism,” is more sophisticated, he claims, and counts as members very wealthy and influential people who are said to sell their souls to the Devil for the promise of power and riches, which are then used to ensure a perpetual state of strife—war, famine, economic instability, and such. The third designation he calls “Apocalyptic Satanism,” which, as the name suggests, has as its goal the total destruction of life as we know it (not surprisingly, he claims this is the most dangerous strain).

  WHILE THERE IS NO DENYING that groups like the “Beasts of Satan” exist, and that they claim to kill in the name of the Devil, the larger question is this: Are these groups part of a bigger problem, or just deeply troubled kids?

  Similar to the “satanic panics” that gripped the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s, when cases such as the McMartin Preschool trial (in which a group of teachers were accused of ritually abusing the students) turned out to be false, some critics wonder whether the Church might be overreacting to a few isolated incidents.

  Italy has seen its fair share of scandals that, while garnering headlines, have failed to deliver. In 1996, for example, Marco Dimitri, the leader of a satanic cult called the Bambini di Satana (Children of Satan) was acquitted of raping a two-year-old boy and a teenage girl during an alleged satanic ritual. Likewise, in 2007, the town of Rignano Flaminio near Rome went through its very own McMartin-style scandal when fifteen students at a nursery school accused six individuals, including several teachers, of sexually abusing them in satanic rituals. A lengthy investigation, however, involving a number of child psychologists, failed to turn up any evidence.

  Dr. Strano, for his part, doesn't believe the more sensational crimes attributed to satanic cults—such as human sacrifice, organ trafficking, and slavery—are going on to the extent that some people imagine. He thinks instead that many of these groups are just about rebellion, about young people doing drugs and perhaps becoming involved in petty crimes such as vandalism or theft. Most of them “do not even know what they are doing,” he says.

  Father Buonaiuto, however, thinks differently. For the past five years, he has been running a cult hotline in Italy, counseling individuals and family members who are trying to get out of cults. “It's not true that they are isolated groups, that a sixteen-year-old kid suddenly wakes up and decides to start a group. There is always someone who gives them the permission; there is a territory, there is always someone who initiates the group with that doctrine,” he says. The hotline has opened Father Buonaiuto's eyes to a world that many people can't imagine exists. “The thing that is the most shocking is the amount of joy that these young kids, some of them sixteen years old, get out of suffering and causing suffering for others. They celebrate death. If you read what some of the people from the ‘Beasts of Satan’ said, you would not believe it. While they are hurting someone, they rejoice in it.” According to Father Buonaiuto, the hotline gets around twenty calls a day, running the gamut from ex-cult members on the run to people just seeking attention. It can be hard to break away from these groups, in part because the destructive lifestyle is fueled by addiction. “LSD, music, sex and violence work together to form a kind of psychological dependence,” he says.

  However, even while he is convinced that satanic cults pose a threat, he is quick to point out that the nefariousness associated with these groups doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the demonic. “We have to be clear: The world of satanic cults is one thing and demonic possession another. Satanism is more about an exterior thing, a cultural movement in which people perpetrate crimes such as fraud and in extreme cases murder. Some people in these groups don't even believe in the Devil but use him as a shield to victimize impressionable people. Demonic possession, on the other hand, is an individual thing, which if it affects a person, does so on an internal, spiritual level.”

  One, of course, could lead to the other, say exorcists like Father Bamonte. If a person were to enter such a group and perform magic or certain rituals, that could open the person up to demonic attack. Or, claims Father Bamonte, the individual could sign a “pact” with a demon and thereby open a doorway to “direct contact” with him.

  ACCORDING TO EXORCISTS, a variety of factors can contribute to a person becoming possessed.

  The first thing to note, say theologians, is that demonic possession cannot occur unless God allows it. It may seem contradictory, but, according to the Church, while God does not wish evil upon any person, he does permit it for some good purpose (similar to temptation). In the case of someone with a very advanced spiritual life, such as a saint, God allows Satan to test that person in the hopes that the physical trials will give their soul sanctifying grace. According to Saint John Chrysostom, “Possessed persons can obt
ain a twofold benefit from their condition. In the first place they can become more holy and good; secondly, having paid the debt for their sins here on earth, they can present themselves pure before the Lord.”

  Demonic possession in and of itself is not evil; it is not considered a sin. In addition, there is apparently no physical or otherwise inherent quality in a person's nature that predisposes him or her to becoming possessed. Demonic possession is not contagious. A person cannot become possessed by sitting in a room or living with someone who is possessed. Generally speaking, say exorcists, one has to either open the door to the Devil, or be a victim of one who has opened the door. These are some ways the Church says a person can do this:

  Occult ties: According to the Church, becoming involved in the occult is a form of idolatry that goes against the first commandment and is a common way to come into contact with the demonic.

  In his book Possessioni diaboliche ed esorcismo (Demonic Possession and Exorcism), Father Bamonte lists the following occult activities that can potentially open the door to possession: participating in a séance; frequenting a medium or magician (the Church makes no distinction between “white” or “black” magic); using an amulet or talisman, especially if it is received from a magician; transcendental meditation, the use of crystals, and other such New Age practices that stress “out of body” experiences; divination or the practice of automatic writing; practicing satanic rituals, especially signing a “blood pact” with a demon. The Bible is clear (and rather graphic) on the dangers involved in practicing magic and divination: “No one shall be found among you who makes a son or daughter pass through fire, or who practices divination, or is a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or one who casts spells, or who consults ghosts or spirits, or who seeks oracles from the dead. For whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).

  The Catechism is also direct in its condemnation of the occult. ‘All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to ‘unveil’ the future … All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others—even if this were for the sake of restoring their health—are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion.”

  As Father Bamonte explains, however, just participating in a card reading or using a Ouija board does not necessarily risk possession. Yet engaging in this activity repeatedly, he says, could start people down a path that could open them up to possession either through a graver sin, or through their own actions.

  One American priest on staff at the NAC related his experience helping a sixteen-year-old unbaptized girl who came to him. While playing with a Ouija board, the girl had contacted a spirit named Nick, who dared her to do things that are dangerous, such as driving her car in a rainstorm without windshield wipers. But things got worse when she awoke one night with an overwhelming sensation of being surrounded by a darkness so thick it was choking the air out of her lungs. With no training in exorcism, the priest said a simple prayer of deliverance and the problem seemed to go away.

  A curse: A curse causes the suffering of others through the intervention of a demon. Curses break up marriages, cause businesses to fail, induce illness, invite possession, and so on. Curses can be carried out in a variety of ways, say exorcists. Most are the result of magic formulas or rituals performed by a warlock or a witch. Sometimes a person is affected directly (by ingesting a cursed object) and sometimes indirectly (by possessing cursed objects).

  One Italian exorcist knew a very wealthy person who had tried to sell her house for many years without success. People would come to look at the house, leave enthusiastic and ready to buy but then mysteriously never return to close the deal. The exorcist said many masses, but still the house remained unsold. One day a charismatic nun came to visit and told the exorcist that something was hidden in a wall and that the house would be impossible to sell until the object was removed. The owner of the house then asked her ex-husband, who was an artist, if he had put anything inside a wall. Reluctant at first, he finally admitted that he had placed a painting behind a wall when the house was being built (in order to dedicate it to an evil spirit in the hopes of garnering favors). When the owner destroyed the wall in question, she found that it encased a painting that portrayed a satanic image. A week after the owner burned the painting, the exorcist claims, four different people offered to buy the house.

  In all cases, say exorcists, the intent is the most critical part of a curse. The strongest curses (those causing the greatest harm) are those launched with true perfidy—when there is a familial or blood relationship between the victim and aggressor, such as a parent who curses a child.

  Some signs that point to a curse, say exorcists, are chronic depression and sickness, infertility breakdowns in the family and marriage, financial difficulty and a family history of suicide or unnatural deaths. Exorcists are quick to point out that experiencing one or more of these conditions does not necessarily mean a person is cursed. Other criteria must be weighed in all cases to determine demonic activity.

  The first people to be affected by a curse are often the ones who cast it, say exorcists. A jilted lover who goes to a magician to have a curse put on the girl who spurned him will perhaps fall into a dangerous pattern of returning to the magician for other reasons, such as to obtain a lucky charm to win over a new girlfriend. According to exorcists, this could not only lead to financial ruin, but in extreme cases, also to possession.

  To many people, belief in curses might seem far-fetched. However, casting and removing spells are widespread in many native cultures, including some that have embraced Christianity. Haiti, for example, is a predominantly Catholic country, yet voodoo is popular.

  Dedication to a demon: This category deals with people who belong to a satanic cult specifically to harness the power of evil by dedicating themselves or family members to a demon. In the case of a child being dedicated, as with a curse, the victim is blameless. It is said that parents sometimes offer newborn babies (or even fetuses) to Satan in black masses. Father Bamonte is quick to point out, however, that any such “gifts” given in return by the Devil are almost always fleeting and have the effect of “dazzling” people so that they give themselves over completely to the Devil, becoming like slaves.

  A life of hardened sin: As defined by the Church, deciding to commit a sin is a free-will choice to do evil rather than good. According to the Catechism, “Sin is before all else an offence against God, a rupture of communion with him.” One sinner who became possessed as a result of his actions was Judas Iscariot, whom the Bible describes as having the Devil enter him. According to theologians, however, sin in and of itself is usually not enough to cause possession. Certain sins (such as worshiping false idols), however, can open the door to demonic possession. Sins can also be an impediment to liberation, say exorcists. It is said that the demon can latch on to a specific sin (such as an unwillingness to forgive), accentuating it until the person is in bondage to that particular sin. Until the person renounces this sin, he will have no chance to break the bondage and become liberated. In these milder possessions, say exorcists, a sincere conversion and a good confession is usually enough to liberate the person.

  SHORTLY AFTER he had attended one of these lectures, Father Gary spoke with a seminarian originally from the Midwest who'd had a frightening experience before entering the seminary. The two met one afternoon for a panino at a busy coffee shop near the Trevi Fountain. Amidst the busy afternoon lunch crowd they found a spot at a counter, and the seminarian told Father Gary his story.

  When the seminarian was a teenager, he and his friends had been bored, so they bought a book on spells at the local bookstore and then purchased some ingredients online. First they decided to cast a spell calling forth a particular spirit. Much to their shock, as they read out the incantations (which required that they make a pact with the Devil
for maximum efficacy, though they didn't do it), a flame appeared and floated in the middle of the living room before disappearing. During another incident, a huge crow appeared outside his kitchen window, even though there were no crows around the neighborhood. Scared, they performed a different spell that made the crow disappear. According to the seminarian, however, it didn't fly away; it vanished. Realizing that he was in over his head, he'd thrown away the spell book the following day.

  The story got Father Gary thinking about what might be waiting for him when he went back to San Jose. He knew from the course that the occult was rampant in Italy and growing. Perhaps even more alarming to Father Gary was that in the suburbs of a major Midwestern city, where kids were relatively wealthy and had a lot of free time, the occult was far more widespread than people realized. Had he missed warning signs in his own parish?

  To Father Gary, the most interesting aspect of the lecture on Satanic cults was the list of reasons people became attracted to such a world. While the traditional reasons had been trotted out by Dr. Strano—namely rock music and the lack of a strong family unit— perhaps most intriguing to Father Gary was new media. With the advent of the Internet, not only were more kids coming into contact with exotic groups, but, as one course speaker said, the computer itself—as a tool of empowerment—played a role.

  Carlo Climati, who has written several books on Satanism and youth culture, coined the phrase “new culture of isolation” to describe how today's young people, who often feel cut off from family, friends, and society, sometimes treat their computers as “friends,” in a sense replacing the real flesh-and-blood neighbor next door with a keyboard and screen.

  Such a concept, whether true or not, made Father Gary wonder about his previous parish. It was clear to him that technology brought huge advances to people's lives, but what effect did this have on a spiritual level? With almost anything one could want only a mouse click away, it wasn't hard to see how using a computer might give a person a sense of omnipotence. Without the proper grounding, would unsuspecting kids be more tempted today than in the past to use these devices to seek occult knowledge, which might in turn open them up to the demonic?