Description:
In The Rite, journalist Matt Baglio uses the astonishing story of one American priest's training as an exorcist to reveal that the phenomena of possession, demons, the devil, and exorcism are not merely a remnant of the archaic past, but remain a fearsome power in many people's lives even today.
Seeking to aid in the training of a new breed of exorcists, in 2005 a Vatican-affiliated university in Rome offered a course called "Exorcism and the Prayer of Liberation." Journalist Matt Baglio, thinking there might be a story in it, accompanied a reluctant and quietly skeptical Father Gary Thomas through this class. Both of their lives would be changed forever.
With full cooperation, Baglio details Father Gary's fascinating training as an agent against evil, leading the reader on a journey into a largely unseen world where the battle between good and evil is no figure of speech. Beginning with his appointment to the course and following him through his grueling apprenticeship with a renowned and elusive Italian exorcist, Baglio reveals how this courageous priest is transformed from skeptic into practitioner. Father Gary participated in more than 80 exorcisms on the road to becoming one of the few Vatican-approved exorcists in America today.
The Rite provides fascinating vignettes from the lives of exorcists and people possessed by demons, including firsthand accounts of exorcists at work casting out demons, culminating in Father Gary's own confrontations with the Devil. Baglio also traces the history of exorcism, revealing its rites and rituals, explaining what the Catholic Church really teaches about demonic possession, and delving into such related topics as the hierarchy of angels and demons, satanic cults, black masses, curses and the various theories used by modern scientists and anthropologists who seek to quantify such phenomena.
Unabridged. -- Matt Baglio -- 6 Compact Disks -- Aproximately 8 hours
