More Dispatches from the Spiritual Battlefront

Readers who have eagerly awaited more from Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, author of Diary of an American Exorcist [reviewed in June 2022 — Ed.], need wait no longer. The follow-up volume, My Confrontation with Hell, like its predecessor, comprises a number of Rossetti’s blog posts at catholicexorcism.org but with revisions and expansions. The result is another excellent work that provides authoritative — and challenging — information on an important subject too often ignored, sensationalized, or misunderstood by the world and by many in the Church as well.

The chapters of My Confrontation with Hell cover a variety of subjects; space permits the mention of only a few. As is to be expected, there is plenty on demons and their modus operandi, including considerations of “demon brain,” how much the demonic involves the “inversion” of all manner of normal things, how demons are masters of “gaslighting” (causing victims to question the validity of their own thoughts, memories, and experiences), how demons cause and take advantage of a person’s wounds, the nature of demonic “rage,” and so on. A chapter titled “Seven Ways Demons Harass Us” provides a succinct summary of good advice that will benefit any Christian. One unusual matter first mentioned in Diary of an American Exorcist that gets special treatment this time around is the ability of demons to send text messages. Several such cases are reproduced in detail. Another unusual topic — financial curses — is considered, and advice is given on how to handle them (the efficacy of which I can vouch for personally).

While Msgr. Rossetti’s exposure of the demonic is good, his treatment of the heavenly is much better. The powers of Hell work against us, but the powers of Heaven work for us, and we are sustained not just by the sacraments and our guardian angels but by many special saint-helpers and, of course, Mary, the Queen of Heaven. Even the humblest things in creation, such as dogs, can be vehicles for divine assistance. Though Jesus is generous and can be free with His assistance, it is important to remember that such assistance is only authoritatively conveyed through the institution and ministers of the Church He established. So, when dealing with the supernatural, the most important injunction Rossetti can give is to “stay in the boat!” — that is, remain in the Barque of Peter.

Msgr. Rossetti’s book and his St. Michael Center (SMC) impart a realization that exorcism is not just an ancient and established Christian practice but also a modern and developing ministry. “In today’s church,” he states, “we are in the midst of codification of the details of this exorcism and deliverance ministry. We have learned much; there is much more to learn.” In person and in his deliverance videos, Rossetti is unfailingly upbeat, confident, and good-humored, which can give the impression that his ministry is not all that difficult. The reality is somewhat different. My Confrontation with Hell details the nontrivial difficulties those involved in exorcism and deliverance ministry must endure. They can pretty much expect to have their phones and computers go haywire for no apparent reason, particularly while broadcasting deliverance sessions. They can also expect to endure occasional direct demonic attacks on their souls while they sleep or during an exorcism, an unpleasant experience they refer to as “being slimed” (à la a particular 1980s movie franchise). None of these attacks can compare to what a possessed person endures, of course, and the attacks sometimes happen because of their closeness to the possessed person, as they are occasionally called to bear that person’s burdens the way Our Lord bore ours.

To combat all this, exorcists and deliverance ministers must be more diligent in living the Christian life than the rest of us, and that means praying and receiving the sacraments more frequently, plus rooting out common vices like anger and boastfulness so as not to give demons footholds in their souls. Deliverance ministries also must observe strict boundary protocols with their clientele (who are frequently vulnerable women) so as to prevent inappropriate contact or worse. Sadly, there have been a number of high-profile scandals involving exorcists who were strong enough to resist the direct power of the Devil but not the indirect power of temptations of the flesh.

Another difficulty exorcists face is the fact that witches and cultists do have actual power to affect people with curses, and folks involved with exorcism and deliverance ministry are prime targets for such curses, especially if they are working to free someone trying to escape cults or covens. In public, Msgr. Rossetti is rather blasé about the whole matter, noting repeatedly, “Yeah, we at the SMC get cursed all the time — the curses just bounce right off us,” which is usually true, but not always. He writes, “It is true that being in a state of grace is critical and it blocks major demonic attacks and infestation. But some get through. It’s part of the job.” Something can bounce off a person but still sting or leave a bruise.

Yet another difficulty for exorcists and deliverance ministers concerns relations with the institutional Church, whose members are not always as supportive as they ought to be. Msgr. Rossetti notes, “Some priests, especially young ones, look up to me, and others think I am a little nuts. Some priests do not believe in demons, including some of my friends. It has strained our relationships. One religious order rejected us. A parish disinvited us. And one priest superior won’t talk to me.”

Perhaps the greatest difficulty exorcists and deliverance ministers face is that, since they are in the spiritual battlefront’s vanguard, they are continually on the front lines of the great cosmic war between Heaven and Hell. Being in a position like that has an effect. “Repeatedly looking at the face of Evil, being slimed daily, and daily enduring its onslaughts changes a man,” Rossetti admits. “After living in the preternatural world, for years, one cannot go back to a comfortable life in the mundane. While God heals and protects, the exorcist is nevertheless changed.” He adds, “I have found that everything the Catholic Church teaches is true, even those uncomfortable truths which modernity likes to reject — including the reality of hell and it being well populated.”

All this might cause you to wonder why any sane person would get involved in exorcism and deliverance ministry. The answer is simple: to help. All the problems exorcists endure they consider “a small price to pay for another person’s liberation.” Rossetti says that “one of the most satisfying graces for us in this ministry is when the exorcism session is over…. It is striking to see the transformation [in an afflicted person] and gives the person and us all a great feeling of hope for this person’s future.” Small wonder, then, that Rossetti and his associates seem so chipper and upbeat most of the time.

My Confrontation with Hell spotlights such transformation in a trio of clients who were obsessed or possessed by the diabolical and sought the aid of Msgr. Rossetti and the SMC, and they describe their experiences in their own words. Their accounts are included with their permission and encouragement (they don’t want others to make the same mistakes they did) in the form of a series of emails and letters written to Rossetti and the SMC over the years. All the accounts are harrowing in their own way. One concerns a woman who left the Catholic faith of her childhood to drift through a series of New Age fads, including divination, shamanism, yoga, druidism, paganism, and witchcraft. After a “kundalini spirit” she had invited into her body wrapped itself around her spine (!) and began making disturbing noises audible to others, she knew she was in trouble and needed help. Her deliverance process lasted five years.

Another account concerns a woman who got involved in Tibetan Buddhism, ultimately becoming a Buddhist nun in India and studying under a prominent guru. This guru sexually abused her and others, and when she exposed him and tried to free herself from his authority, he and other members of the community cursed her. Thereafter, she was subjected to a series of frequent, horrific demonic attacks and visions, all intended to break her will and force her submission to direct diabolical possession. It took three years to begin to get any respite from the attacks, as she reluctantly had to admit that the beings she had worshipped as gods were nothing more than demons, and only Christ has the power to save her.

The last and perhaps most disturbing case concerns a married man who had an affair with a coworker who turned out to be a practicing witch. He swiftly regretted it and broke it off, but the witch refused to give him up and subjected him to an infernal ordeal that makes Fatal Attraction look like a Disney movie. The witch put a “monitoring spirit” on the man’s family, which enabled her to know every move of every member, even sending them photos of themselves taken at times they knew they had been absolutely alone. Her curses damaged the family’s business, finances, property, and physical and mental health; sorcerous figurines spontaneously appeared in locked rooms and sealed Amazon packages. Even with the help of Msgr. Rossetti and the SMC, the family’s nightmare continued for over three years and is still not fully resolved. None of the three case studies is fully resolved, although all are very much improved. Recognizing this indicates a great deal of honesty and humility on Rossetti’s part. There’s no room for Pollyannaism here; the process of exorcism and deliverance can be difficult, and it can take a very long time to complete.

When delivered, the formerly possessed often become the most passionately Catholic people imaginable. And exorcists and deliverance ministers often get a taste of Ultimate Reality that the rest of us do not. We rely on faith, but they have direct experience, and it changes them. Msgr. Rossetti concludes:

There are many, many more graces with being an exorcist. The air we breathe is the air of the angels. I feel like I have one foot in the Kingdom. The angels surround me. The saints are my friends. I rejoice in a communion with the holy ones. My life is there, and not here. I don’t think anyone can be fully involved in this ministry for years and then go back to normal parish duties. Maybe it is possible. It is probably like the difficulty that soldiers have after having been directly in combat for an extended time and then trying to reintegrate into normal, daily life.

In the end, the greatest service My Confrontation with Hell provides is not a study of Satan and his minions but a witness to the love and liberating power of Jesus Christ and the truth of the teachings of the Catholic faith — even the ones people do not wish to acknowledge anymore.

It is said that performing an exorcism is such a harrowing experience that exorcists die young. Not so. The priests involved in the real-world case upon which The Exorcist book and movie were based, for example, lived to a ripe old age. Rossetti himself is still going strong and, despite his age (he turns 65 this year), has no plans to retire but hopes to “die in harness,” as it were. This promises more writing from the good monsignor in the future, to which we may look forward in happy anticipation.

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