Tom Thomas –
“The Pope’s Exorcist” is one of the top ten movies streaming on Netflix. As a Catholic, I found several aspects of the movie, very compelling, such as “If there is no Evil, where is the need for the Church,” a couple of quotes at the beginning of the movie, and also, “Your sins will seek you out.”
After watching the movie, I read the book on which it is based, “An Exorcist Tells his story,” by Fr Gabriele Amorth, who performed hundreds of exorcisms as the exorcist for the Diocese of Rome.
Russell Crowe has played the role of Fr Amorth very convincingly, and was ably assisted by Fr Tomas, they demonstrate that a Catholic Priest will do anything to save the soul of one, even at the cost of their own lives – very poignant.
My research showed me that Fr Edward Siebert SJ, of Loyola Productions, co-produced this thought-provoking movie and I reached out to Fr Siebert, as I think there are a lot of myths surrounding exorcism and the evil one, even among Catholics in India, and would be good to get Fr Siebert’s view on it. I was fortunate that Fr Siebert replied and was ready to do an email interview for ICM readers. Excerpts:
Dear Fr Siebert, it is very kind of you to agree to take this email interview for our readers. Can you please tell us a bit about yourself, your background, as well as that of Loyola Productions, and what led to your purchasing the movie rights to this book?
Thanks for inviting me! My name is Fr. Eddie Siebert, S.J. and I’m a Jesuit priest and filmmaker. Originally from Ohio, in the Midwest, I now call Los Angeles my home. I’ve been a Jesuit priest for 26 years. I’m currently the Rector at the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) Jesuit Community and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Film & Television at LMU.
I founded Loyola Productions, Inc. (LPI) over 20 years ago to tell global stories that inform, inspire, and entertain. My goal with LPI was always to move from creating strictly Ignatian programming and into producing mainstream content. That said, I was reluctant when the opportunity arose to option the rights to Fr. Gabriele Amorth’s stories about his work as an exorcist, I remember thinking to myself, ‘I don’t want to do an exorcism movie.’ Not only is horror not really my genre, but William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” is a cinematic and cultural touchstone that is forever etched into the minds of audiences around the world. But the more we talked about getting the rights, the more I realized we could reach a wider audience with an interesting story about a real man and his mission. It was a complicated process, but we ultimately secured the rights, and we were off and running.
How hard was it to translate the main points of Fr Amorth’s book to the screen, and to get actors such as Russell Crowe interested in the project? Can you please share some details on the process, effort, and budget if possible?
We listened to a lot of pitches and finally landed on two writers who would draft the script for the film. Over a period of several months, the writers would pass various drafts to the producing team and we would give notes. This cycle of writing/notes/re-writing can seem interminable, but it’s essential: the studio will give the film a green light for production only when the script is where it needs to be.
Our goal was to be as authentic to the character of Fr. Amorth as possible, but obviously this is a work of historical fiction. The writers and the director took creative liberty to translate the characters’ internal struggles into cinematic language.
The movie theme of two Catholic Priests teaming up and using all their spiritual training to save the Soul of an affected boy is a refreshing change from the current superhero movies. Can you please comment on this aspect?
I love the buddy aspect of the film! “The Pope’s Exorcist” is very much a dynamic duo movie, with two very different protagonists thrown together to accomplish a monumentally difficult task. In our film, they just happen to be priests who play off of each other nicely. Clearly, Fr. Amorth is the veteran and Fr. Esquibel is the neophyte. Combined, they make a great team.
Could you elaborate a bit on the power of the name of Jesus and the existence of the evil one, as you have highlighted these aspects in the movie?
A basic premise of “The Pope’s Exorcist” is that Evil exists in the world and the only way to dispel the darkness is to invoke the light of Christ. While the demons in the film may seem extreme and exaggerated, they are indicative of the power of evil to overwhelm us.
Fr Edward Siebert, SJCan you please share some information to dispel any wrong notions or myths surrounding the rite of exorcism, the evil one’s manifestation in the world today, and necessary prayers for Catholics, such as the St Michael’s prayer, to be on guard against such attacks always, etc for our readers, based on your knowledge gained from Fr Gabriele’s works and the movie.
Although certainly dramatic and often misunderstood, the rite of exorcism is essentially a ministry of healing. True cases of demonic possession, although extremely rare, can be devastating for the victim and terrifying for friends and family. Fr Amorth’s warm personality and no-nonsense approach cut through the histrionics of demonic possession and facilitated the outpouring of Christ’s love and mercy.
Regarding prayer, in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus instructs the disciples, “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and do not put us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.”
It’s hard to beat this prayer (which comes from the heart and mouth of Jesus himself) for succinctness, purity of intention and breadth.
St Ignatius of Loyola has said that the evil spirit can come in the disguise of an angel of light. Can you please share some information with our readers on how we can be on guard against the evil spirit, and how we can discern if it is the good spirit or evil spirit within us?
Spiritual discernment is a fundamental element of Ignatian spirituality. Although St Ignatius certainly acknowledged the power of demonic possession, his discernment process is aimed at discovering God’s will by learning to recognise the movement of dispositions (which he called “spirits”) within us. Simply put, some dispositions lead us closer to God’s will (manifesting as peace, charity, true happiness) and some, however beguiling, lead us away from God’s will (manifesting as isolation, resentment, spiritual stultification and unhappiness.)
A wonderful way to learn more about spiritual discernment is to engage a Jesuit or Ignatian (i.e., Jesuit-trained) spiritual director. Another is to take advantage of the 3- or 7-day retreat experiences offered by most Ignatian spirituality centers.
What are your biggest takeaways from making this movie? Are there any memorable quotes or incidents you can share from Russel Crowe that happened during the making of this movie?
I’d say my biggest takeaways are to keep an open mind and to never give up. The pathway to your goal is often not the one you think it will be, so remain open to the possibilities that the Spirit presents, even if those possibilities are times of pause or what appears to be inactivity. The Spirit is always working. Patience!
Russell Crowe is a lovely man and it was great to meet and work with him. He was very alert to and respectful of the fact that he was portraying a real person with an utterly unique ministry. He approaches his craft very seriously and that was his focus during filming.
There are a lot of references to the Catholic Faith throughout the movie, through sacraments and prayers, could you kindly share what a Catholic MUST do daily in order to be away from the clutches of the Evil one?
As a Catholic, I strive to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Jesus was very clear about how to follow him: care for the poor, feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, tend to the ill and destitute, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, and promote justice (Matthew 34-46.) This is a tall order! I believe that the surest defense against Evil is the honest effort to follow Jesus’ example and live out his call to build the Kingdom. The sacraments, liturgies, good works and magisterium of the Church are all there to guide and assist our efforts to emulate Christ and help build the Kingdom of God.
What are some favourite movies that you can recommend to our readers or further spiritual reading to get educated about the wiles of the evil one?
I’m going to stick with movies on this one because that is where my heart is: I’m most attracted to movies that, while not overtly religious, explore and celebrate the dimensions of the human experience, particularly our need for mercy, solidarity, community, forgiveness and faith.
Movies that spring to mind are:
- CRASH (2004)
- OF GODS AND MEN (2010)
- MAGNOLIA (1999)
- CALVARY (2014)
- CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)
- ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
- TRUE CONFESSIONS (1981)
Lastly Fr can you please share a prayer for our readers to be in the Light always?
As a Jesuit, I have a particular fondness for the Prayer of St. Ignatius. You certainly don’t need to be a Jesuit to gain spiritual strength and solace from Ignatius’ prayer!
Dearest Lord,
teach me to be generous;
teach me to serve You as You deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labour and not to ask for reward
save that of knowing I am doing Your Will.
Thank you very much for your time, Fr Siebert.