mmalabanan
The 2005 drama horror film The Exorcism of Emily Rose terrified thousands of people worldwide and was even included in the top 100 scariest films of all time.
What many don’t know is that the American horror movie was loosely based on the life of a Anneliese Michel, a German girl who went through a series of Catholic exorcism rites after reportedly being possessed by demons.
Described by many as intelligent, compassionate, and kind, Michel was a beautiful teenager who was knowledgeable about the Catholic faith. Just like other teenagers, she lived a normal and happy life.
But Michel’s life drastically changed when she turned 17. In 1969, Michel started having epileptic seizures and regular convulsions. After being diagnosed with strong psychosis and temporal lobe epilepsy, she was confined at a psychiatric hospital. Sadly, the medical treatment didn’t improve her strange condition. In fact, it even worsened her depression.
When Michel reached her 20s, she became intolerant of the crucifix and other religious objects. Allegedly, Michel was suffering from severe depression causing her to see demons and hear voices. Despite undergoing long-term medical treatment, Michel’s condition got even worse. This prompted her family to believe that Michel was possessed by demons.
Eventually, her parents decided to seek religious help. Unfortunately, several priests refused to conduct exorcism rites and advised them to continue Michel’s medical treatment. After several refusals, Michel’s parents were finally able to convince Fr. Ernst Alt and Arnold Renz to help them after getting the go-signal from Bishop Josef Stangl in 1975. The two secretly performed exorcism rites on Michel for 10 months.
It was reported that Michel would mimic demonic faces and voices during her episodes. She would also tear her clothes apart, lick her own urine, and eat coal while being “possessed”. During the exorcism rites, the demons apparently identified themselves as Lucifer, Nero, Cain, Judas Iscariot, and Hitler.
On July 1, 1976, Michel passed away at the age of 23 after extreme starvation and dehydration. After going through 67 exorcisms for 10 months, the priest declared she was freed from the demons just before her death.
Still, her parents and the priests who performed exorcism on Michel were charged for negligent homicide. In the end, they were sentenced to six months in jail which was eventually reduced to three years of probation.
WARNING: The disturbing audio recording was taken by priests during the actual exorcism of Michel.
Featured image credits to WereBlog.
What a load! This child was NOT “possessed by demons”-she was severely epileptic & mentally ill-she needed DOCTORS (if there was anything medical in that time period that COULD have helped, which I doubt), not religion! Funny how “possession” usually happens to faithful catholics, isn’t it? Not to Jews, Episcopalians, Buddhists, nature worshipers, etc. There seems to be something in the catholic religion that encourages mental illness to develop! It bothers me that some people are so ignorant that they believe in fictional demons.