The John-Henry Westen Show - Meet the Real Pope's Exorcist - The Truth about Fr. Gabriele Amorth

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00:00:46.240 May God bless you. Hey, my friends. I think maybe some of you have already seen the new Russell Crowe

00:00:53.040 movie called The Pope's Exorcist. It's being billed as being based on the life of the famous

00:00:59.360 Rome exorcist, Father Gabriel Amorth, on his own memoirs and writings. You know, I haven't seen it.

00:01:06.560 But the association that Father Amorth himself founded has condemned the movie, stating that

00:01:14.480 Russell Crowe's portrayal of Father Amorth does not represent the priest's actions or mannerisms. In fact,

00:01:20.880 they accused the film star and the producers of having missed the spirit of service that

00:01:25.920 characterized Father Amorth in his ministry of consolation, they said. Now, this association is

00:01:31.440 called the International Association of Exorcists, and they said, and I'll quote it for you,

00:01:35.280 The Catholic Church is then represented by an equally unbelievable Pope, played by Italian actor

00:01:42.000 Franco Nero. And finally, the Vatican environments, painted with the usual tried-and-true range of

00:01:49.360 chiasso curo, whatever that means, hues, gives the film a Da Vinci code-esque effect to instill in the

00:01:57.360 audience the usual doubt, who is the real enemy, question, the devil, or the ecclesiastical power.

00:02:04.080 End quote. So that's some pretty severe condemnations. In fact, they didn't end there.

00:02:09.040 The International Association of Exorcists wrote that the film's presentation of Amorth's exorcism,

00:02:13.360 quote, besides being contrary to historical reality, distorts and falsifies what is really lived and

00:02:20.480 experienced during the exorcism of truly possessed people that we, Catholic exorcists, celebrate 0.95

00:02:26.320 according to the directives given by the Church, end quote. They accused the film of being a danger to

00:02:32.240 viewers, and they said the film's depiction of exorcism is, quote, a spectacle aimed at arousing

00:02:39.120 strong and unhealthy emotions thanks to a gloomy set design with sound effects such as arouse only

00:02:45.360 anxiety, disquiet, and fear in the viewer. So the end result, of course, and this is from them again,

00:02:53.360 they say the end result is to instill the belief that exorcism is an abnormal, monstrous, and frightening

00:02:59.680 phenomenon whose only protagonist is the devil, whose violent reactions can be confronted with great

00:03:05.760 difficulty, which is the exact opposite of what occurs in the context of exorcism celebrated in

00:03:12.080 the Catholic Church in obedience to the directives it issues. Wow. You know, that's really too bad,

00:03:20.960 because I was very much looking forward to a film about the real Father Gabriel Amorth, who, you know,

00:03:27.920 I was so grateful to him for his clarity over the many years that we were able to report on him at

00:03:33.440 LifeSite News. LifeSite, we were actually honored to get, I don't know, what may have been

00:03:40.720 his final press interview while he was already in hospital. We did it with him in December of 2015.

00:03:47.440 He died just in early 2016. And Father Amorth was always with us under JP II. I mean,

00:03:56.560 he was appointed by JP II as the chief exorcist in the Diocese of Rome. And that was, I think, done in 1985.

00:04:04.400 He stated in 2013 that he had driven out 160,000 demons using, you know, the prayers of the church,

00:04:16.880 the exorcism prayers of the church. And he had this unbelievable career, which he really did. He had

00:04:23.680 thousands of exorcisms. Now, it wasn't 160,000 exorcisms, because some of you may know that in one

00:04:31.200 exorcism of one person, you may cast out many, many, many demons. In fact, in the Bibles,

00:04:37.840 we already hear that, you know, Jesus asks, what's the name of this demon? And the man says,

00:04:44.800 Legion. And he's cast out into the many, the demons are cast out of the many swine. So

00:04:50.880 Father Amorth died when he was 91. And I thought, you know, instead of being misled,

00:04:58.320 with the falsehoods in this film warned about by the International Association of Exorcists,

00:05:03.760 I wanted to provide you with an accurate portrait of Father Gabriel Amorth, the chief exorcist of Rome

00:05:09.840 for so many decades. You know, when his last book was published, LifeSite News' Claire Chrétien covered

00:05:16.320 it. And in that book called An Exorcist Explains the Demonic, the Antics of Satan and His Army of Fallen

00:05:24.320 Angels. Father Amorth wrote that demonic disturbances that torment individuals called

00:05:30.000 diabolic obsession, and get this, and this is direct quote, they can lead to confusion about

00:05:36.960 one's gender, particularly in the young, he said. Now, it's an incredible thing that he was so on point,

00:05:47.680 and this is back in 2016, remember, 2015, when he would have written this book. And he warned that

00:05:55.440 many of the devil's ordinary temptations are passed off as modern ideas, but really serve to unhinge the

00:06:03.120 principles of the faith, which include abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, divorce, cohabitation.

00:06:09.360 Now, isn't that amazing? Listen to that. And that's why I was so enamored with the film Nefarious,

00:06:17.120 which did exactly what, you know, give you a real portrayal of evil and Satan. So here's what Father

00:06:25.920 Amorth said. He said, the loss of a sense of sin that characterizes our era helps Satan to act nearly

00:06:34.480 undisturbed. And inducing man to sin takes man progressively away from the love of God.

00:06:42.080 Father Amorth added that suggestions like, everyone does it, applied to grave sins,

00:06:49.440 that causes the weakening, in his words, they weaken the consciences of men and women and lead 0.99

00:06:55.280 them toward closing their hearts, egoism, lack of forgiveness, and doing everything for money,

00:07:00.800 power, and sex. He said, he went on, he said, everything that seduces and enslaves souls leads

00:07:06.800 to their death, which is Satan's objective. Father Amorth explained that even though Satan's promises

00:07:13.680 of money, pleasure, power seem alluring, they actually come at a terrible price and don't allow those who 0.96

00:07:19.600 choose them any peace at all. The principle of total personal liberty, the promise of no obligation to

00:07:27.040 anyone, the denial that all truth comes directly from God, are seductive in appearance, but ultimately

00:07:33.440 unfulfilling, especially for young people, he said. Now these notions, he said, delude people into thinking

00:07:40.400 that life is a beautiful holiday where everything is permitted and where your eye, that's your ego,

00:07:46.800 does not recognize any limits regarding pleasure or enjoyment, he said. Now this is all because Satan

00:07:52.640 wishes to lead people away from God. So other ways that Satan infects and attacks the modern culture,

00:07:59.440 according to Father Amorth, are certain types of music, he said, which can provoke, and I quote,

00:08:05.280 violence, suicide, sexual perversion, and acts of destruction against the state,

00:08:10.240 the civic order, and the church of God. He said, today's families are among the most targeted by the

00:08:17.280 ordinary action of Satan. And in order to counter it, Father Amorth recommended that all married 0.94

00:08:24.400 couples pray together and extend the habit of prayer to their children. So I wanted to give you also

00:08:29.920 another glimpse. Back in 2006, Ed Penton, who's a friend, interviewed Father Amorth for the National

00:08:41.040 Catholic Register. And these are quotes from that interview, which was truly fantastic. And Father

00:08:47.040 Amorth told Ed Penton, it's very important today, that exorcism is, because there are so many requests

00:08:54.480 for them. People have lost the faith, and superstition, magic, Satanism, or Ouija boards have taken its place,

00:09:02.880 place, which then open all the doors to the presence of demons, end quote. Wow. Let me just go through

00:09:10.880 that again. Basically, he said, people have lost the faith. And he said, superstition, magic, Satanism,

00:09:20.960 or Ouija boards have taken its place, that's the place of the faith, which then open all the doors to 0.81

00:09:27.840 the presence of demons, end quote. So Father Amorth lamented that too few exorcisms occur today. And

00:09:37.040 this is, again, back in 2006. He said, and I quote, many bishops and priests don't practice the material,

00:09:45.440 and they don't believe in it, or they believe only a little, despite the fact that canon law is very

00:09:51.120 clear, as clear as the gospel, where it says, pray and cast out devils and evil spirits, end quote.

00:09:58.560 So isn't it amazing that already back in 2006, Father Amorth was calling out the bishops themselves

00:10:07.200 for their lack of belief in exorcism, in evil spirits at all. And it's no surprise then that

00:10:14.560 Father Gabriel Amorth was such a friend to the movements for life, faith, family, and freedom

00:10:20.080 all throughout the pontificate of John Paul II and onward. We're so sorry to lose him when we did in

00:10:28.560 late 2015, early 2016. But here's another glimpse. He was so prescient, he was so able to see into,

00:10:38.240 almost into the future, but it did exist back then too. He had an interview, this was published in 2001,

00:10:45.680 so even earlier than that. It was with Stefano Maria Paci. It was published in an Italian journal

00:10:52.240 called Trenti Giorni, or Thirty Days. And in it he said this, the questioner said,

00:11:00.000 the legions of demons that have taken up residence in the Vatican. And that's what it was about. Are you

00:11:06.160 saying that there are, this was Paci saying, the interviewer saying, are you saying that,

00:11:13.920 as in any war, Satan wants to conquer the opposing generals? And referring, of course, to higher-ups in

00:11:20.480 the Vatican. And this was Father Amorth's response. Get this, and I quote, it is a winning strategy. One

00:11:27.200 always tries to implement it, especially when the defenses of one's opponents are weak. Satan also

00:11:32.560 tries. But thankfully, there is the Holy Spirit who governs the church. The gates of hell shall not

00:11:38.240 prevail, despite the defections, and despite the betrayals, which should cause us no surprise. The

00:11:45.520 first traitor was one of the apostles closest to Jesus, Judas Iscariot. But despite this, the church

00:11:51.360 continues on her way. She is held up by the Holy Spirit, and therefore all the efforts of Satan can

00:11:58.480 have only partial results. Of course, the devil can win some battles, even important ones, but never

00:12:04.880 the war. Now, isn't that amazing? That almost tells us everything we need to know about what's going on

00:12:12.240 in the Vatican today. In addition, Father Amorth was unafraid to speak the truth even in the face of

00:12:21.280 massive political incorrectness. Now, one of the things that was massively politically incorrect back in

00:12:27.200 the day, this was in the early 2000s and so on, was the notion of the consecration of Russia.

00:12:38.000 Because that request by Our Lady of Fatima to the three children of Fatima and to Sister Lucia

00:12:45.280 specifically in 1929 basically went ignored and not done for years and years and years and years.

00:12:52.240 And when John Paul II made his March 25, 1984 consecration, a lot of people said,

00:13:00.080 that's it, it's got to be it. And you had people rallying saying, yes, it's absolutely done. Now,

00:13:06.880 in that consecration, of course, John Paul II never mentioned the word Russia at all. In fact,

00:13:13.520 he consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart, and that was always a point of contention.

00:13:17.760 Well, many, many people would eat you up alive if you said that there was a problem with it. But

00:13:24.720 Father Gabriel Amorth did so nonetheless. Father Amorth did not believe that the 1984 consecration

00:13:32.480 was what was requested by the Blessed Virgin. And here's what he said. He said, and I'll quote,

00:13:38.720 the consecration has not yet been made. I was there. Now, this is Father Amorth himself speaking.

00:13:44.400 He said, I was there on March 25 in St. Peter's Square. I was in the front row,

00:13:50.160 practically within touching distance of the Holy Father. That's John Paul II. And he continued,

00:13:54.880 John Paul II wanted to consecrate Russia, but his entourage did not, fearing that the Orthodox 0.98

00:14:02.400 would be antagonized as, of course, the Russian Orthodox. And they almost thwarted him. Therefore, 1.00

00:14:08.720 when his holiness consecrated the world on his knees, he added a sentence not included in the

00:14:15.280 distributed version that instead said to consecrate, quote, especially those nations of which you

00:14:21.760 yourself have asked for their consecration, end quote. So indirectly, and this is again,

00:14:26.960 these are the words of Father Amorth. So indirectly, this included Russia. However,

00:14:31.600 a specific consecration has not yet been made. You can always do it. Indeed, it will certainly be done,

00:14:37.760 end quote. You know, and that's really, for his time, it was incredible. Almost no church leader

00:14:44.800 alive would have said something like that. But Father Amorth, I guess, after working with demons

00:14:50.960 and fighting them all his life, had no real fear of anything mankind could muster up. So he was very

00:14:58.720 forthright. It was such a joy to report on him. And let me bring you some of that exclusive LifeSite

00:15:05.280 news interview with Father Amorth that was conducted again as he was already dying in hospital in

00:15:12.080 December of 2015. Our reporter there asked, Our Lady is foretold at Fatima, the blood of martyrs,

00:15:20.160 if penance were not done, the blood of the martyrs has begun to flow copiously. How long

00:15:25.120 will it be before God sends his punishment? Father Amorth responds, Look, today there are more

00:15:34.080 martyrs than during the first centuries of Christianity. Just think of the Middle East,

00:15:38.240 where so many Christians are killed simply because they are Christian. There's a huge amount of 0.88

00:15:43.040 martyrs. But let us not forget what Our Lady said. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.

00:15:49.120 The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, which will be converted, and the whole world will be 0.98

00:15:53.520 granted a period of peace." End quote. Now that's Father Amorth quoting Our Lady, of course. And he

00:16:00.080 continues with his own answer. He says, Soon we will have great happenings. And of course the LifeSite

00:16:06.800 reporter asks, When? And Father Amorth says, It is hard to give details of what you do not live.

00:16:13.680 I'm not a prophet. At one time, Israel pulled away from God to embrace idolatry. Prophets were treated

00:16:20.240 very badly. Finally, God punished. Today, the world does not turn from God because it is idolatrous.

00:16:27.360 Rather, it pursues pure atheism so as to put science on the altar. But science does not create. It only

00:16:33.840 discovers that which God has made. In turning away from the Lord, it is breakthroughs.

00:16:39.600 Its breakthroughs are put, that's science's breakthroughs, are put to disastrous use.

00:16:46.080 Without the Lord, progress too is misused. We see it in laws that go totally against nature,

00:16:52.800 such as divorce, abortion, gay marriage. We have forgotten God. Therefore, God will soon admonish 0.99

00:16:58.720 humanity in a very powerful manner. He knows how to remind us of his presence. Think about that for a

00:17:04.800 minute. We have worshipped or made an idol of science and put it on the altar and that can have

00:17:11.440 very dangerous consequences. We just had a warning from Elon Musk about the possible horrific

00:17:18.160 consequences to humanity of AI and what's going on. You know, who knows? Perhaps God will punish us by

00:17:27.360 letting us reap the benefits of our false gods of science. Who knows? But Father Amor thought that

00:17:35.840 the time of times or the time of punishment where the Lord will do something was coming and coming

00:17:42.160 soon. And that was already back in early 2016. So Lifesight then asked him, there are rumors that

00:17:51.360 you had recently indicated a period of eight months, maybe less. But as I understand it,

00:17:56.640 there's not a precise time. And that is eight months to what? To the triumph of the Immaculate Heart,

00:18:01.440 or to some kind of event that would come previous to the triumph of the Immaculate Heart. And that's

00:18:08.720 what we were referring to there. And Father Amor responds, I think it is early. In other words,

00:18:14.240 that the eight months time period is too early. I think we are close, he adds. More and more so,

00:18:20.480 the Lord will make himself heard and the world will respond. I look at this with optimism because God

00:18:28.880 always acts for us to obtain a greater good than the punishments inflicted, which are meant to open

00:18:35.280 the eyes of humanity, which has forgotten and abandoned him. I always remember the rhyme of

00:18:41.280 metastasio. Wherever I look, immense God I see. In your works I admire you. I recognize you in myself."

00:18:52.400 So that's him quoting a poet. And then he continues with his answer,

00:18:55.840 "'We should always seek the Lord. We cannot forget the origin, the first cause, as unfortunately

00:19:06.160 happens today. I was with Padre Pio for 26 years.'" Now, isn't that interesting? This is Father Amorth

00:19:13.200 relating that he was with Padre Pio for 26 years. He goes on, "'I was with Padre Pio for 26 years,

00:19:19.680 and remember how furious he was about the invention of television.'" Then he quotes Padre Pio.

00:19:27.120 "'You will see what it will do,' he said." And then Father Amorth adds this, "'It has also allowed us good

00:19:35.200 things,' that is television has. But I'm very much in the midst of people and see how many people have

00:19:42.400 been ruined by television and the internet.'" So Lifesite then asked him,

00:19:48.640 "'You spoke about the laws against nature of divorce, of gay unions. These are the themes of the two synods 0.93

00:19:55.760 on the family, the extraordinary held last year, 2014, and the next one that was to be held,

00:20:02.640 and the ordinary synod. Do you believe that these issues have been adequately addressed or should they

00:20:09.360 be addressed from another perspective at the next meeting in October? That's October 2016." So Father Amorth

00:20:16.560 then replied, "'Certainly it pleases me that the Pope has called the synod on the family, but you have to

00:20:24.160 aim to the united family. Divorce has been a disaster. Abortion has been a disaster. Each year 50 million 0.82

00:20:30.800 children are murdered by abortion. And euthanasia, the broken family, cohabitation, it's all destruction.

00:20:37.680 The Lord gave us sex for a purpose, and he also declared, may no man divide what God has joined.

00:20:44.720 One thing is sexual fun, another is love. Today there is much talk of love, but there truly is none.

00:20:52.800 The sin that brings the most souls to hell is the impure sin, the sin of the flesh. She said this to a

00:21:06.720 young girl who did not even know what it was. We must listen to that which Our Lady says. Words that in

00:21:15.520 any case indicate as reasonable a single stance, conversion, penance, and prayer."

00:21:24.640 And that, my friends, is the real Father Gabriel Amorth. Please go to LifeSiteNews.com to check out

00:21:32.400 all of our coverage on Father Amorth and much more. For LifeSite News, this is John Henry Weston.

00:21:39.280 Let me God bless you.

00:21:51.360 Hi, everyone. This is John Henry Weston. We hope you enjoyed this program. To see more like it,

00:21:55.600 be sure to hit the subscribe button below to get all the latest content from LifeSite News. Check

00:22:00.560 the links in the description to read more and connect with us.

The John-Henry Westen Show - April 20, 2023

Meet the Real Pope's Exorcist - The Truth about Fr. Gabriele Amorth

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