He described how they trembled and how their teeth chattered.
When one of the assistants asked Giovanni to control himself, he said “I
am not Giovanni” in a voice that was not his own, Father Amorth
claimed.
As soon as the Pope stepped down from the “Popemobile’ the two men flung
themselves to the floor.
“They banged their heads on the ground. The Swiss Guards watched them but
did nothing,” the priest wrote.
“Giovanni and Marco started to wail at the same time, they were lying on
the floor, howling.
“They were trembling, slobbering, working themselves into a frenzy.
“The Pope watched from a distance. He raised an arm and blessed the four
of them. For the possessed it was like a furious jolt – a blow to their
whole bodies – to the extent that they were thrown three metres backwards,”
he continued.
“They stopped howling but they cried uncontrollably.”
Father Amorth, who claims to have conducted thousands of exorcisms, wrote: “It
is no mystery that the Pope’s acts and words can enrage Satan…that simply
the presence of the Pope can sooth and in some way help the possessed in
their fight against the one who possesses them.”
Federico Lombardi, the Vatican’s spokesman, disputed the account, saying
Benedict was not aware of the men’s afflictions and had not intended to
carry out an exorcism.
Father Amorth is a controversial figure whose outspoken views have embarrassed
the Vatican in the past.
In November he branded yoga as “evil”, claiming that it leads to a
worship of Hinduism and other Eastern religions based on “a false
belief in reincarnation”.
He has also railed against Harry Potter, saying the children’s books seem
innocuous but in fact encourage children to believe in black magic and
wizardry.
The Devil “studies every one of us and our tendencies towards good and
evil,” said Father Amorth, whose new book is sub-titled: “It’s not
me who is frightened of the Devil, it is he who is frightened of me”.
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