Fr. Gabriele Amorth, chief exorcist of Rome, speaks to CNA on May 22, 2013. / Steven Driscoll/CNAIn the upcoming film “The Pope’s Exorcist,” Russell Crowe will play the late Father Gabriele Amorth, the former Chief Exorcist for the Vatican.
Before he passed away in 2016 at age 91, Father Amorth is believed to have performed 100,000 exorcisms.
As the author of several books, including “An Exorcist Tells His Story,” which served as the basis for the future film, he was possibly the most well-known exorcist in the entire globe.
His remarks on the subject of demonic entities also frequently made the press.
He claimed, “I converse with the Devil every day,” in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph in the year 2000.
He and I converse in Latin. His response is in Italian. I’ve been fighting him every day for the past 14 years.
On May 1, 1925, Father Amorth was born in Modena, Italy.
A few years after meeting Blessed James Alberione, the founder of the Congregation of the Society of St. Paul, he entered the mother house in August 1947.
On January 24, 1951, Father Amorth was ordained as a priest.
He wasn’t made an exorcist until 1986 by Cardinal Ugo Poletti, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome.
He frequently discussed the rising demand for exorcists in a culture that rejects religious belief.
Because there are so many requests for them today, it is crucial. In its place, some have turned to superstition, magic, Satanism, or Ouija boards, which, according to Father Amorth, in 2006, “opens all the doors to the appearance of demons.”
Julius Avery, an Australian director and screenwriter, will helm “The Pope’s Exorcist,” which is scheduled to hit theatres in September 2023.
In Ireland, “The Pope’s Exorcist” will start shooting in August 2022.
His novels, according to The Hollywood Reporter, “describe his experiences combating demons that had grabbed people in their depravity,” and the film will be based on those volumes.
A Spanish theologian who knew Father Amorth, Father Jose Antonio Fortea, told CNA in 2016 that the priest had enormous influence both inside and beyond the Church.
“His loud, resounding voice informed millions of people of the devil’s activities.
He succeeded in reviving the ministry in one nation by himself, and after that, his influence spread throughout the entire Church.
The easiest way to do this, according to Fortea, was to simply describe what he had witnessed.
Father Amorth was the focus of William Friedkin’s 2017 documentary “The Devil and Father Amorth,” which he directed in 1973 and is based on the book by the same name.
Friedkin is shown in the documentary film seeing Father Amorth perform an exorcism.
The woman who was being exorcised in the movie informed Friedkin, “My condition is caused by bad spirits, but Father Amorth is the only one who helps me,” in a later essay for Vanity Fair.
Despite his criticism of the visual effects, Father Amorth stated in the Sunday Telegraph interview that “The Exorcist” was his favourite film.
Because “people need to know what we do,” he claimed, he enjoyed Friedkin’s picture.
For his performance in the 2000 movie Gladiator, Crowe received an Oscar. In the 2014 Darren Aronofsky picture “Noah,” which was his only other significant part with a religious storyline, he portrayed Noah, the main character from the Old Testament.
This week, the star of the upcoming movie about the Vatican exorcist visited the Vatican.
Crowe visited the Sistine Chapel on July 19; nevertheless, he received backlash for tweeting pictures of the chapel’s interior.
I’m not sure there’s a more special privilege in the world than to hold the key for the Sistine Chapel and to experience it’s glory in silence. So grateful.
Sono al servicio di Roma. pic.twitter.com/BjPfPAvoIO— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) July 19, 2022