CNN interview with exorcist portrayed in The Rite

March 08, 2011

Father Gary Thomas, the California exorcist whose story forms the basis of a recently released movie, discussed his experiences in an interview with a CNN reporter.

“A lot of folks dabble in the occult, or they will be involved in practices that … classical Christianity at least would consider to be idolatrous,’ he said. “People can get themselves involved in Wicca, or people will go see some sort of fortune-teller, or people will go to a séance, or they can go and they can learn how to channel spirits.”

“Sometimes the person's head will begin to move in very rigid ways. Sometimes their eyes will roll. Sometimes there will be epileptic-like seizures,” he added. “Occasionally people will take on kind of a body language of a serpentine look, and they'll begin to stick their tongue out and use their tongue in ways that would look snake-like, and they'll coil up in a snake-like position.”

 

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Further information:

• Meet America's top exorcist, the inspiration for 'The Rite' (CNN)
• Interview with exorcist portrayed in The Rite (CWN, 2/1)