Video at link.
“Any attempt to use the solemn Rite of Exorcism as entertainment exposes all participators to the danger of future hidden satanic attack.”
ST LOUIS- Friday night a cable TV show will broadcast a live exorcism inside a St. Louis County house.
And it’s not just any home. It’s the house where Catholic priests performed an exorcism on a young boy in 1949.
The true events that inspired the famous movie, ‘The Exorcist’, in 1973.
NewsChannel 5 got an exclusive first look at the made-for-TV event that leading Catholics in St. Louis are calling an unholy ritual.
It could be a house on any street in any town. But what happened here in Bel Nor, in 1949, is one of the most talked about paranormal events in modern history.
Jesuit priests from Saint Louis University performed an exorcism on a 14-year-old boy. A boy they believed was possessed by the devil himself.
The famous movie, “The Exorcist”, is based on the extraordinary events that happened here.
The most shocking details came straight from the diary of one of the SLU Jesuits involved. You can read the full text of the diary by clicking here.http://archive.ksdk.com/assetpool/documents/121026010134_SLU-exorcism-case-study.pdf
The diary describes the boy’s bed shaking violently, and mysterious scratch marks that appeared to spell words on the boy’s body.
“Many of the things you see in that movie (‘The Exorcist’),” said SLU archivist John Waide. “Evidently things like that or almost like that did happen.”
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But since 1949, nothing much out of the ordinary happened at the Bel Nor home, until just a few years ago.
In 2008, radio host Dave Glover invited people to spend a half hour in the room where the exorcism happened. Three tried–no one made it past five minutes.
“The look on one of the young lady’s face is as close to horror and terror that I ever want to see,” said the host of The Dave Glover Show on 97.1 FM.
Based on the genuine chills and screams from Dave Glover’s video shoot at the house, cable TV channel Destination America will have a crew and a bishop from an offshoot of the Roman Catholic church perform an exorcism on the house—on live TV, Friday night.
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“Exorcism is not entertainment,” says Bishop Robert Hermann with the Archdiocese of St. Louis. “Exorcism is serious business.”
Bishop Robert Hermann with the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis is deeply concerned. Bishop Hermann believes any attempt to conjure up the devil– even for a TV show– is a gravely serious and potentially dangerous stunt!
“It can only be done with the authority of the Archbishop by someone appointed by the Archbishop who is the exorcist for the diocese.”
“Exorcism is to be done privately so as not to give Satan a lot of publicity.”
Many neighbors in the area are also upset with the production.
“It’s ludicrous. It’s a big hoax. Don’t come. Don’t pay attention to it,” said Linda Kemp.
Common complaints you’ll hear include too much additional traffic and noise to blocked streets and driveways.
Greg Taylor said, “There’s just lots of trucks moving around. You hear the beeping every now and then.”
“Generators going at 11 o’clock at night. And they’re loud. You can’t sleep,” Shauna McWoods said.
McWoods, a Catholic, has even gone as far as to have her home blessed before the showtime.
She said, “Those negative spirits are real.”