Real-life exorcist reveals ‘most extreme’ thing he saw while performing exorcism (2024)

Horror fans will already be well educated on exorcisms, seeing as though they are an extremely popular plot line for films in the genre - but the reality of this religious practice is even more horrifying than Hollywood makes it seem.

We've seen movie stars dragging demons out of people in cult classics such as The Exorcist, The Devil Inside and The Pope's Exorcist, but it's not often that we hear from someone who supposedly has the gift to banish evil in real life.

Father Vincent Lampert has opened up about his chilling - to say the least - experiences over the last three decades, after being ordained and becoming the chief exorcist of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

So as well as the usual priestly duties he has to attend to, he also spends a significant chunk of his time freeing people from the forces of evil.

Father Lampert was appointed to his unenviable role by Indianapolis Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein, before being sent of to Rome to carry out his exorcism training with Father Carmine de Filippis - who is something of a legend in this sphere.

The 61-year-old was mentored by the Diocese of Rome's resident exorcist specialist and learned everything there is to know from the Franciscan priest, who has over 25 years of experience in this field.

Father Lampert sat in on a whopping 40 exorcisms during his trip to Italy - and by golly has he got some stories.

During a chat with LADbible in 2021, he hinted that the things we've seen in the movies aren't a million miles off what really goes down while casting out evil spirits.

The priest said: "I was able to work with a priest in Rome who trained me on how to do them, because it's easy to do the book reading and the studying - that's the easy part - but doing an internship is what is best."

There was obviously a few exorcisms which were a cut above the rest, such as the first ever one he attended where an elderly lady who believed she was possessed turned to Father Carmine for help.

Father Lampert recalled how as soon as a drop of holy water touched her body, 'the demon manifested', causing the woman's eyes to roll to the back of her head and her to foam at the mouth while shouting 'all kinds of blasphemies'.

Most of us would run a mile after witnessing that sort of stuff, but he has somehow made it through countless others.

But there is one exorcism in particular that he wishes he could forget.

"At one exorcism I sat in on, the demon laughed hysterically and began to levitate," he continued.

He claimed that the man who believed he was possessed 'rose a foot out of the chair' he was sat in, but said that Father Carmine barely batted an eyelid.

Father Lampert added: "The priest put his hand on the person's head who was possessed and pushed him back down into the chair, all the while never pausing with the exorcism prayer."

He reckons that 'demons want to instil fear' and sort of impress people with how barbaric their so-called takeover over the human body can be, which explains why exorcisms usually involve some pretty hair-raising stuff.

The holy man explained: "The voice can become very deep and authoritative, almost like a barking dog that is trying to scare you. The temperature in the room will change, it will become much colder when a demon manifests.

"I have witnessed a change in the face - one time the person's jaw dropped down and moved to the side, a really hideous type of look. I've seen people drop to the floor and begin to slither like a snake.

"There's uncontrollable laughter or screaming, hysteria. Again all these things are to instil fear and to get the person to focus on the devil, instead of what God wants to do."

And all I can say to that is, rather him than me.

But don't go worrying yourself to death about a demon taking over you now, as you'll be pleased to hear that Father Lampert says demonic possession is fairly rare - although he still receives around 2,000 messages from people claiming to be possessed each year.

These people don't just waltz straight in and get exorcised, though.

Before the Catholic Church in the US will do it, there's strict rules that must be met. The person must undergo a psychiatric evaluation to rule out mental illness and they must also see their GP to see if there is a physical explanation for what they're experiencing.

"The Church will always rely on experts in the mental health and medical fields," Father Lampert explained.

"Because I have to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that the person sat in front of me is truly dealing with the extraordinary activity of the devil.

"Exorcists are trained to be sceptics, so I should be the last person to believe that somebody is truly possessed - I need to exhaust every other explanation."

He emphasised that the 'overriding goal' is to get help for the person who is suffering - whether it is spiritually, mentally or physically.

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