745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pEfMQiVVn
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAf3EqwJX0O
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhL0VMzT5CK
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuLntfsdpXL
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo90XZtZlGb
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNuACZKRNu
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPN4QIQKTQX
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNc4P13zsy
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvHd3Jb9ky
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSQ7j0si1O
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSFHJipgeA
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwP3rsskNF9
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZLoBQfI97
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5FnZ4idei
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWVxfdYZkR
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHLcBX5gSV
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxr1LFowtpE
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPb8xjFgeo
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKN3GhYIant
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4ljkYj3Ws
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQnhmYxJvY
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOTnJZN8Bbi
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrPGxMwGY6
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDASawXCWoj
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPA3Me1HuL
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ur11ALC3r
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxvBU3cJKdx
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZf6KIh129H
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYhhuW0QfJy
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpPT2JlYqq
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTi7JN9F3T
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqOkUNx3Fq
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qJCetvcHp
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFi6wACue1V
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtka4xLM9cC
Anyway, it wasn’t the exorcism that killed Anneliese Michel.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFE73Xfhox
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWwvpXV2bV
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dUyFYz32a
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyScGVuNyg
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDbZZbHASQ
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHBGj1MFNg
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8mn8gsHbe1
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRP7jIIM5w
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakNk0lrgvl
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrk2eOV45w
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzteliOQEmI
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypFF9H03Ci
She, her parents and the exorcists decided to rely completely on exorcism. By the time Michel died of starvation, she weighed only 68 pounds.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN1l5NtQkxk
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOaPVq82cxi
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYU8eJ2wNwk
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsiCaTKY4Z
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFUdcIp0wL
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikNChSkO9n
After her death, the Anneliese Michel trial also set reason against faith.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrHsfs3DkA
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACKaBxPYlj
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HeFaSgliv
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxod68Ejuia
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAg9J8W6wG
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTcgUudf3W
“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.”745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLgKhugl01
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQl1unWr6Lh
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBUvlO6phz
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKaeeRPhWl
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluNLirKzEa
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QBU98oHEy
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9J9Rfawn8L
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByccUZDl5R
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACp5k02mHN
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPaeFGV6sC6
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHoEbJ2pJw
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEaxxtjG4u3
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEszbagBft
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5Enkbfd4r
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9zGIWqMDt
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1GOzk8QyC
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgofLKe0Mz
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3RFaGMSRL
“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.”745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGihEsz62Ni
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOotpxVems
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHeEaTOBAv
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJXg8aBQfI
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNrEddInAk
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSr6tR5hfbz
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOaxQhVHbih
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3bwiEA12qa
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7NAZrXGt8
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcdQx7p0M6
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOD1ywFAWIB
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSsYl1eo5S
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhIXsfAaek
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrP9Judna5J
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9scNyS6Cdi
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvf1mWOzWxS
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwfyUjX9qv
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6b43FRqWt
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.”745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3y9BhaHOs
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95to0oZvHM
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7nODBPnCU
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kueVGAPrK
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVj1pSZyq1
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevaQCiDliZ
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.”745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGD4kofWAef
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nPzoNpv0c
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzZbHlFf1o
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtRdasmpM4
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2tp5GhS73
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSIgotqPxY
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRWJoaMSZO
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1lEkUVGId
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0EB8ZFATK
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhxPMiQeTn
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuW7Vc8UpcN
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFreHehaVx
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq26BJ55fDt
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIIcU4DCHT
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Hd9wmp7Lr
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0jfSLcV4d
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBRYVGMr9c
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5VnxhOXka
The Germans didn’t get what they wanted.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZTzTaIOQl
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdU7zYdPWc4
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfKTcv83XQ
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzFMF4jtRq
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJvSDSYSKP
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGbQzTw5a1
“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.”745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQdEHDLYAQ
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3V7Tlp0KfA
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtjWjPvwUv2
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIMu0oBCQE
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtj3RDiRbpE
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7ChEgk3rv
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.745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6vcatdkQB
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVcTVQBtqx
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBeKWwHCbc
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TF68buS0p
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7ydlOxTje
745Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDid52tPCi
“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
