Gabriele Amorth (1925-2016), a priest of the Congregation of San Paolo, was the chief exorcist at the Vatican and internationally recognized as the world's foremost exorcist. This is a terrifying book - not because it sets out any convincing evidence of demonic activity (it doesn't! The devil is no respecter of persons and will use whatever power he has against all members of the human race.

While I do agree that leading a devout Christian life can be an admirable pursuit, the book seems to imply that it inevitably leads to a power struggle, as power has a tendency to corrupt. If getting in touch and receiving power from demons was so easy, it would have been a recognized truth of the world, a commonly known fact like the shape of the earth (which some still deny). An Exorcist Tells His Story was the perfect length for a seven-hour (approximately) car trip my husband and I took yesterday including pauses for discussion. It contains major contradictions and inconsistencies, so I'm baffled how it's popular even among believers.I'm not sure how faithful it was to the book, but it was engaging enough to make me want to give it a chance. It is instead a calm, prayerful and sincere warning against the devil and his evil influence in this world, and how it has grown in modern society. Father Amorth does a great job of showing how Christ is far more powerful than any evil but at the same time that evil is real and not to be taken lightly. First of all, you are expected to take it as read that, sometimes, people have problems which are caused by demons. The two books An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories are not official Roman Catholic documents, rather personal accounts of his office as Exorcist.

I have myself heard a priest preach a homily in which he reflected on the Gospel in which Jesus cast out the legion of demons by saying that "of course, demons don't really exist. He also reveals how little modern science, psychology, and medicine can do to help those under Satan's influence, and that only the power of Christ can release them from this kind of mental, spiritual or physical suffering. It's amazing how many people who deny the existence of God, furrow the brow and exhibit unease when the subject of satanic practices, poltergeists, curses and 'unholy.If one of your ex's has suddenly dumped you with no explanation it could have been due to a curse, yo. By those accounts, I suspect this author would happily let me know I was going to hell, despite the fact that my most meaningful spiritual practice is. Although not by any means extensive, readers will be pleasantly fulfilled, and believers especially, will likely to have their faith renewed.