Controversial ritual

Exorcism in Austria: Father casts out devils

Russell Crowe goes on a demon hunt in "The Pope's Exorcist". Exorcisms are also carried out in Austria, for example by Johannes König.

(Bild: Sony Pictures, SJ/Ender, Krone KREATIV)

Perhaps not necessarily like in the horror shocker "The Pope's Exorcist", in which Russell Crowe fights the devil and embodies the (real) chief exorcist of the Vatican, but nevertheless: exorcisms are still carried out by the church today, even in Austria. The "Krone" spoke to an exorcist from Styria.

With 70,000 exorcisms performed, he was the busiest demon exorcist in the world. For decades, the Italian priest Gabriele Amorth fought the Antichrist wherever he thought he could find him. Harry Potter, Islamic terrorists, homosexuals - for the Vatican's chief exorcist, who died in September 2016, Beelzebub lurked everywhere.

Exorcisms still take place in Austria today
"The Pope's Exorcist" is based on the memoirs of the arch-conservative, but anyone who believes that exorcisms only happen in Hollywood blockbusters is very much mistaken. Exorcism has been part of the Catholic Church's pastoral care for two millennia. The highly controversial ritual is still practiced to this day, even here in Austria.