Benedict chased demons?

A blessing by Pope Benedict XVI exorcised the devil from two howling men during a general audience in St Peter’s Square in 2009, a leading Catholic exorcist says in a new book.

Extracts from the publication by Gabriele Amorth, a well-known exorcist for the diocese of Rome who has already written on treating demonic afflictions, were published in Panorama magazine on Thursday.

The Vatican has denied that the Pope performed an exorcism on the men. But Fr Amorth said two of his helpers brought the men, known only as Giovanni and Marco, to the audience to see the Pope, where they began to shake, becoming increasingly agitated and showing violent signs of being possessed.

When one of the helpers asked Giovanni to control himself, he said: “I am not Giovanni” in a voice that was not his own, before throwing himself on the floor along with Marco when the Pope’s car arrived.

“The two possessed men fell to the floor and banged their heads on the ground. The Swiss guards watched but did nothing, perhaps they have seen how the possessed react when faced by the Pope before?” Fr Amorth said.

“The Pope began to wave to the crowd and Giovanni and Marco started to howl, drool, shake and fly into a rage. The Pope did not get flustered but raised an arm and blessed the four people.

“The possessed were then hit by a wild jolt, their whole bodies were hit. They flew three metres backwards... and howled no longer,” he said. The Vatican’s spokesman Federico Lombardi said that the Pope had no idea who the men were or that they were there that day.

“Even if the facts are true, it’s not correct to talk about an exorcism by the Pope, who was not warned or aware of their presence. There is no connection, and the Pope had no intention to perform an exorcism,” he said.