This is really cool!

The Atlantic recently published a mini-documentary about Vatican exorcist Fr. Raffaele Talmelli.

The film goes inside of his life as an exorcist. He explains how he identifies evil, the common misconceptions regarding the demonic, and explains how encountering this side of the spiritual realm is not thrilling, but absolutely terrifying.

Watch the video below:



Click here if you cannot see the video above.

Here’s the video’s text:

“The day after my ordination, the bishop asked me to take on this role. I would have never expected that. Exorcist.

“We study many things about evil and demons.

“But we often see people have totally misleading ideas both about evil and demons, and frequently about the exorcist himself.

“I understood that my main mission was to get rid of the ignorance that permeates these themes.

“The first demon to oust was the general misinformation people fall into.

“A lot of folks are concerned about minor issues– illnesses or mental disorders– without realizing how the real demon’s actions happen around us.

“Contra Daemones” (Against Demons)

“It is key to understand that if a person is mentally ill, it would absolutely be illusory and detrimental to perform any exorcism.

“There is such a big misunderstanding in our world to mistake psychiatric issues with possessions, and vice versa.

“To face a real demoniac is an awful experience.

“First of all, they are absolutely mentally sound, and use their superior intelligence to hurt.

“Let’s just say it’s a terrible encounter.

“When it happens, it’s a clash. There is a lot of wickedness, with a trail of evil that follows you for a long time.

“My disgrace has been to find demoniac people in the church. Jesus, after all, found his first demoniac in the synagogue.

“Exorcism means to recollate the world within the ratio, which is the reason for being for all things around us, and it exists within nature. It’s not a law revealed by any religion. It is indeed a natural law.

“The problem is that people believe that to be possessed by the devil is to be thunderstruck while everything is just fine. But according to the gospel, the reality is very different.

“When Jesus meets the man possessed by a demon, it is clearly written…which means inside an evil spirit, that means that it is actually the man himself that entered the evil spirit, and not the other way around.

“St. Augustine said that the devil would not have any power on you, without your consent.

“That being said, it is pretty clear that real demoniacs run away from the church and obviously run away from the exorcist.

“Our purpose is mostly to help people avoid falling into evil and free them once they fall into it. Let’s say though that freeing people through our help and intervention could only happen if the person leaves a glimmer as long as we are alive and we can exercise our free will.

“As the saying goes, while there’s breath, there’s hope.”

[See also: How Should Children Learn About Satan? Rome’s Former Chief Exorcist Answers]

[See also: Demonic Possession Should Be Handled by Trained Exorcist, Not Confessor, Says Bishop]