643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoLHdwmeslN
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQS8vAN5dct
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHrCmu0uFC
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTN2jfJKWE
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡog60SYTWwW
According to court findings, she experienced her first epileptic attack in 1969, and by 1973 was suffering from depression and considering suicide. Soon she was seeing the faces of demons on the people and things around her, and voices told her she was damned.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxCoOAxbNO
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Mqyh9eL9C
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YbmxTmDSd
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4NU6RSsB0
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWowLSqU4l
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppq05TiYkg
Under the influence of her demons, Michel ripped the clothes off her body, compulsively performed up to 400 squats a day, crawled under a table and barked like a dog for two days, ate spiders and coal, bit the head off a dead bird and licked her own urine from the floor.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXVr35bOqm
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIu0nN4scY
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzHs1LIxlR
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8FCii3Gx8
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1k4pexQnKA
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4EKRbZMgS
By 1975 Michel was asking for an exorcism. The Revs. Ernst Alt and Arnold Renz performed the rite 67 times over the first half of 1976. Some of the sessions took up to four hours. Forty-two sessions were recorded on tape.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeY5df2uIX
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMauBy38gST
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjavrxm7oEj
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEFj4OLtOE
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcP8ZddeUT2
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSqtjvdJkv
Michel’s recorded voice can still send shivers up your spine. It is the voice of a demon, growling, barking, inhuman — and surprisingly like the voice of Linda Blair in “The Exorcist,” which had been released in Germany two years earlier.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGX6jQdusn
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyn9GUsO8Oh
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oZuzb7h0V
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡai8JlJ79Jq
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLp2zvudH7
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpAYtMUHzE
Sometimes the demons identified themselves — as Cain, Nero, Judas, Lucifer, Hitler and others — and even answered the exorcists’ questions, explaining what was wrong with the church or why they were in Hell. “People are stupid as pigs,” spat Hitler. “They think it’s all over after death. It goes on.” Judas said Hitler was nothing but a “big mouth” and had “no real say” in Hell.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhsmm7mTNK
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNyTTmxt4av
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCvN9RagVG
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwg1U1mnrsD
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDYnmePkkG
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz9zRjN2LY3
Anyway, it wasn’t the exorcism that killed Anneliese Michel.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdZMnbYTCV
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4p0RxGFNMI
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTm4jTJWw8o
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjzx9kR0Mc
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4FaOV1HVgn
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSx0caGcIMS
At some point she began talking increasingly about dying to atone for the wayward youth of the day and the apostate priests of the modern church, and refused to eat. Though she had received treatment for epilepsy, by this time, at her own request, doctors were no longer being consulted.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3BP0DHo2v
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVNx4nn8pm
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsZ2Dcj0bP
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUro2UM0wB
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDrjadTpMo
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2mvH2KWT3j
She, her parents and the exorcists decided to rely completely on exorcism. By the time Michel died of starvation, she weighed only 68 pounds.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJsPxoaPlD
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9hFqnM0jn
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIsWlN5B8H
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ975WnrxDCg
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05bt6VN76B
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMkuzdFabW
After her death, the Anneliese Michel trial also set reason against faith.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYAgvjCH83
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOessq1FH0
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19n2I4rWDj
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhjz093Mim
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgu6GCtlZMj
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEs8SITImi
“I personally believe that this case was handled in such a way as to play down the reality of the Devil,” says Norbert Baumert, Jesuit priest and chairman of the theological commission of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Germany, which cannot perform exorcism but practices “prayers for deliverance” from “demonic nuisance.”643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMk9xpYDFU
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMLg4rdQnV
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvXPtw3Gbl
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuWSop8H6t
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bZAgJngwt
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMwS0p4g8w
The trial went to the heart of faith: If the Bible is true, then the miracles must have really happened, and Satan must be real.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtURYTZ4r9z
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJRRMQXr02
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0Fy9gSXpV
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTknWN5TOs
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5sgKjLlMQ
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PiQkCneWg
But it’s not easy preaching the existence of the Devil to one of the most secularized countries in Europe. A study by research institute Infratest and published in the German newsweekly Der Spiegel last month showed that even among churchgoers, approximately a third of baptized Catholics and half of baptized Protestants do not believe in life after death.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptS8H6y40C
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsLgt8rLjR
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSDXzN3GRH
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiopwhOupXl
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl348ITtK9N
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eF0bT0ufO
“I understand the complaint that German theologians are too rational,” says Klemens Richter, professor for liturgical science in Muenster. “But exorcism is all about helping the sick. In Anneliese Michel’s case, the sickness was supported. When I go to a patient and support her in her delusion, she gets the impression that she really is possessed.”643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ajirOxpgY
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfjs1XR6Jm
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdeh9lT25e
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrShDTphZNh
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ntQ42Hzqn
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQI3TLfd5D
Exorcism is far more widespread today than most people imagine. According to Richter, there are about 70 practicing exorcists in France and just as many employed in Italy. In July this year, a congress in Poland was reportedly attended by about 350 practicing exorcists.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqZMFkFYIS
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnkIH8V7qF
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBPIySxeQI
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcxzuyOz7z
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhrRC0qCYv
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3ugHLcHRe
Germany is the major European exception. Here, there are only two or three practicing exorcists, and though they have the approval of their bishops, they operate in secret.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfCxo4c4rq
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtWwzpVbGa
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJkDF9eAwk
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiapCVoswF
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLisKJ7LwxF
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusT6uUn2xp
Secularization has the church in its grip,” says Ulrich Niemann, a Jesuit priest, medical doctor and psychiatrist who often has been called into exorcism cases by clergymen. “We do a lot for the Third World, but little for faith in a transcendent God. . . . The German church is far too cerebral.”643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToZr3PzcZ1
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJA5NRYNnBG
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY62qbmW1dv
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLFfq8rDwM
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HRACQ5fsm
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwVdaq5vuy
Niemann doesn’t consider himself an exorcist and doesn’t perform the Roman ritual of 1614. “As a doctor, I say there is no such thing as possession,” he says. “In my view, these patients are mentally ill. I pray with them, but that alone doesn’t help. You have to deal with them as a psychiatrist. But at the same time, when the patient comes from Eastern Europe and believes that he’s been impaired by evil, it would be a mistake to ignore his belief system.”643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYxEoLarZf
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPoiyLT7HXT
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgebLSVINY
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjTwIbORVB
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEZQmR3H8A
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXLUOgxNH5
After the Michel trial, German bishops and theologians formed a commission to review the exorcism rite, and in 1984 they petitioned Rome to change it.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9t6X5faYG
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRvrJ7TlP1
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiockW1hZkd
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgxsFi9GLR
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGUWT3ZCOQ
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3UrEX0ghL
The heart of the problem, they found, was the practice of speaking directly or “imperatively” to the Devil, that is, “I command thee, unclean spirit . . . ” That part of the rite seemed to do the most damage, since it confirmed to the patient that he or she truly was possessed.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fPfTGQrc3
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgccw9Jp4Ql
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJVi7l7DXZ
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDe9OBdiLf
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVpqErRuwp
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwQIRvz6pI
The Germans didn’t get what they wanted.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxQwxiuA8g
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSSrbPDPSj
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHKmxEa1FS
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6RmA1ePIy
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQg3JtQBoHX
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkh7x2MlQbg
“We were astonished when Rome issued a changed exorcism formula in 1999 which left open the possibility of speaking to the Devil directly,” says Richter. “But you can’t know for certain that a patient is truly possessed of the Devil.”643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZ6nJ7mIrG
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNbCcGHXUn
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BojIuw9PE
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrwYUGgKLE
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGP8nOK4q2
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDR7CjSPsSM
Today, 30 years after Michel’s death, with both exorcists and her father also dead (her mother couldn’t be reached for this article), Michel is still revered by small groups of Catholics who believe she atoned for wayward priests and sinful youth, and honor her as an unofficial saint.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyXzQdJJEV
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmdcYPTBB9
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiL2TgEXp4
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vFcrvlBqd
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTk2PO0zMhQ
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTCzjUNpFz
“Buses, often from Holland, I think, still come to Anneliese’s grave,” Barthel says. “The grave is a gathering point for religious outsiders. They write notes with requests and thanks for her help, and leave them on the grave. They pray, sing and travel on.”
Penana
search
Loginarrow_drop_down
Registerarrow_drop_down
