Priest-exorcist Monsignor Stephen J. Rossetti – who, to my knowledge, has never publicly criticized a pope, bishop or fellow priest – is resuming his deliverance ministry.

From an August 7 story on the OSV News website:

A priest who was removed as an Archdiocese of Washington exorcist is relaunching his nonprofit deliverance ministry, while remaining a priest in good standing in his home diocese.

Msgr. Stephen Rossetti announced July 13 that his St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal will resume its activities with a Sept. 28 online deliverance prayer session….

In June, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy had removed Msgr. Rossetti as an exorcist for the Archdiocese of Washington, citing concerns over a May 29 Facebook video in which the cleric had mused as to whether aliens are real or demons, stating he personally believed the latter.

The Catholic Church has no defined position on the possible existence of extraterrestrial life, which has been a subject of theological speculation and debate over time.

Cardinal McElroy subsequently told Catholic News Service Rome that his decision ‘wasn’t touching on the question of UFOs,’ but instead reflected the cardinal’s view that ‘the traditional role of an exorcist is a very private one…a sacred one.’

He remains a priest in good standing in his home Diocese of Syracuse, New York, according to that diocese’s vicar for clergy Father John D. Manno.

From a June 3 statement released by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse:

Msgr. Rossetti was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Syracuse in June 1984 and has served outside the diocese in specialized roles since 1989. He had served as an exorcist of the Archdiocese of Washington at the St. Michael’s Center since 2019.

Msgr. Rossetti graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1973 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the USAF. He received an M.A. degree in political science from the University of Pittsburgh and served in Air Force intelligence. In 1980, he entered the seminary, Theological College, at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a Doctor of Ministry.

Msgr. Rossetti has served as a prolific author, educator, licensed psychologist and expert on psychological and spiritual wellness issues for Catholic priests around the world. He remains a priest in good standing in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse.

Below are excerpts (used with permission) from Rossetti’s latest book, My Confrontation with Hell: Real Demonic Encounters of an Exorcist, which I recommend. Click here to order a copy of the book from SpiritDaily.com.

It is particularly difficult for possessed people to muster the courage to disobey the demons and trust in God. They hear and sometimes "see" the demons. And they hear the violent demonic threats and can be cowered by their intense evil. But the path to liberation requires just such a trust in God and a rejection of evil.

So, too, for us exorcists. We must surrender ourselves completely into God's hands. Nothing happens that is not allowed by God. We trust in Him. We go forward with our ministry, directly confronting Evil, confident in his knowledge and surrendering ourselves into His hands. In the midst of a difficult exorcism, when the afflicted person is frightened, I ask them to pray with me: "Jesus, I trust in you. Jesus, I trust in you."

Over the years, I have witnessed and read story after story of how an animal, especially a dog, has been a wonderful grace in someone's life. Each of us has a guardian angel who watches over us 24/7. I think they sometimes intervene in our lives with a little, four-footed helper.

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SATAN DOES INDEED TRY TO MANIPULATE, SEDUCE AND CORRUPT HUMANS VIA SEXUALITY. It is one of his most constant ploys during an exorcism. A majority of the possessed are women and typically fairly young. All priest-exorcists are male. As every senior exorcist has experienced, Satan will try to derail the process and the Exorcist's ministry using sexual means. (Of course, it can also happen with male clients but most commonly with females.)

The list of sexual advances and overtures exorcists have experienced in exorcisms is very long. It is important to note that these happen most often when the afflicted person is manifesting the demonic in some way and thus not in complete control, or often not even conscious. Rather it is the demons who are acting and, after the event, many of the afflicted are not even aware of what took place and are often embarrassed to learn of it.

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• Many women report feeling strong sexual impulses toward the Exorcist which are out of character and suggest a demonic source.

• In the midst of a session, the manifesting energumen simulated sexual behaviors.

• One young woman told the Exorcist: "I have demons on my panties" and another very visibly reached into her bra and pulled out a note to read to the priest.

• Afflicted women repeatedly calling the priest late at night crying for his help and his prayers to help them "sleep."

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• Female clients are given a trained female staff member/volunteer to communicate with between sessions. They do not communicated with the Exorcist.

• All exorcism sessions with females must have a female present or a family member. All sessions with males must have another person present.

• Priest-exorcists do not touch the client during sessions except to lay hands on their heads at the appropriate time or to lay their stoles on the necks of the afflicted person. If the afflicted person needs personal assistance, one of the lay women will help.

• Priest-exorcists never meet with the clients privately—ever. If pastoral counseling, support or other pastoral needs surface, the client will speak to our trained female lay team member of contact their local parish.

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  All of us need to be obedient. If I, as a priest and an exorcist, do not stay in the Barque (boat) of Peter but launch off doing what is not part of our time-honored tradition and discipline, it will surely end in disaster for me and those to whom I am ministering. Don't start and secure in the teachings of the Bible and the Church. Most assuredly, this boat will weather all demonic storms and bring you safely home.

Pertinent link: The St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal