Vatican-trained exorcist shares true tales of his craft

MADISON, N.J. — The Rev. Vincent Lampert knows Hollywood has created an image of his profession, a dark figure in a hat looking up at a window, preparing to cast out demons.

He says most exorcisms aren't as dramatic as they appear in movies, but some come close.

There was the time in Italy when a woman shook violently and Lampert said he saw her levitate above a chair.

"If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it," Lampert, 48, a Roman Catholic priest and designated exorcist for the Diocese of Indianapolis, said in a recent telephone interview. "There was nothing between her and the chair. My jaw must have been open."

When speaking to groups, Lampert, who said he's always in demand in October, typically talks about the relevancy of exorcism in modern times, and about a moral crisis of people moving away from God that he says has led to a rise of secularism and superstition. He said he's one of just 36 Vatican-trained exorcists in the U.S., a number that's tripled over the past 10 years as the Catholic Church reportedly tries to stem a movement of people seeking answers in the occult.

"People were turning elsewhere for help to figure out what's going on." Lampert said.

It's not clear how many priests perform exorcisms in the U.S., and how many are performed. Lampert said every bishop is authorized to perform the Rite of Exorcism and may bestow the authority to perform that rite on priests.

Officials with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson, N.J., say they have a designated exorcist, a priest who has performed at least two exorcisms over the past couple of years.

That priest's identity is kept secret from the public, said Ken Mullaney, the diocese attorney, because church officials don't want him to be inundated by exorcism requests. No exorcism is allowed to proceed without the approval of Paterson Diocese Bishop Arthur Serratelli, Mullaney said. The diocese also has another requirement implemented by Mullaney two years ago: Subjects must sign a waiver form.

"I've been told that an exorcism can get pretty physical," Mullaney said. "I wanted to protect priests and the church from anyone making claims against them. ... They don't teach you this in law school."