{"id":31960,"date":"2023-04-07T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T08:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1812263"},"modified":"2023-04-08T10:09:22","modified_gmt":"2023-04-08T08:09:22","slug":"is-the-popes-exorcist-based-on-a-true-story","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/is-the-popes-exorcist-based-on-a-true-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Is The Pope\u2019s Exorcist based on a true story?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russell Crowe stars as Father Gabriele Amorth in the new film. <\/p>

By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 07 April 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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In the history of horror cinema, the subject of exorcism has been returned to time and time again \u2013 from William Friedkin\u2019s 1973 classic The Exorcist to several films in The Conjuring universe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New film The Pope\u2019s Exorcist \u2013 which stars Russell Crowe and Franco Nero \u2013 is the latest addition to the genre, telling the story of the Vatican\u2019s chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, who according to the film\u2019s synopsis \u201cbattles Satan and innocent-possessing demons\u201d.<\/p>\n

Even though that might not sound like the basis for a narrative adapted from real events, you might be wondering if parts of the film are based in reality \u2013 read on for everything you need to know.<\/p>

Is The Pope\u2019s Exorcist based on a true story?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Believe it or not, the film is based on real events \u2013 at least partially.<\/p>\n
Father Gabriele Amorth was very much a real man, an ordained Roman Catholic\u00a0priest who was appointed an exorcist of the Diocese of Rome in June 1986 and promoted to Chief Exorcist six years later.<\/p>\n
His work was previously the subject of the 2017 documentary film The Devil and Father Amorth, which saw director William Friedkin travel to the Italian village of Alatri to observe Amorth performing an exorcism, and the new film is adapted from his two memoirs \u2013 An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories.<\/p>\n
Amorth claims to have performed as many as 160,000 exorcisms throughout his career, although this claim has been disputed by some \u2013 including Edward Peters<\/a>, a professor of canon law.<\/p>\n
He passed away aged 91 in 2016, but before his death, he agreed to give producer Michael Patrick Kaczmarek the rights to his books \u2013 after previously rejecting various other offers from film studios.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe I was able to succeed where other producers failed in that I was able to convince Father Amorth about my sincere religious devotion,\u201d Kaczmarek explained in the film\u2019s production notes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our exchanges, I was able to convince him that if he took the chance to work with me, that I would try to make sure the Catholicity would be preserved in the film \u2013 and that he would be respected as a person along with the Church and his religious order.\u201d<\/p>\n
The film is inspired by Amorth\u2019s books rather than a direct adaptation, and screenwriter Michael Petroni was drafted in to write an original story, with Kaczmarek explaining: \u201cHe did a great job of incorporating real Latin prayers, from the book Catholic exorcists use in their work. He brought a great level of authenticity to the script.\u201d<\/p>\n
In short, then, the film is a fictional tale based on the memoirs of a real man \u2013 and how likely you are to believe some of the more outlandish elements depicted will likely depend entirely on your own faith.<\/p>