CHICAGO – Just a week before the re-release of the 1973 film “The Exorcist,” the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago announced it hired the first full-time exorcist in its 160-year history.
The priest, who remains unidentified, has been on staff for a year, but his appointment was only recently made public by Cardinal Francis George, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
George told the Sun-Times he made the appointment on the advice of a French cardinal because “he felt it was needed.” The priest, who will be responsible for purging demons from possessed people, said through the archdiocese that confidentiality is crucial.
Chicago is not the first archdiocese to hire an exorcist. The Boston Archdiocese has one, as well as New York, where James LeBar was appointed by the late Cardinal John O’Connor.
The 1973 blockbuster movie “The Exorcist” was recently re-released with scenes that were cut from the original movie but that director William Friedkin thought should be included.
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