OCTOBER 16, 2020 BY BARRY DUKE
ITALIAN journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona has a new book out that reveals that Eugenio Pacelli who became Pope Pius XII – regarded by many as an anti-Semitic Nazi sympathiser – actually performed exorcisms ‘from a distance’ on Adolf Hitler.
Interviewed by Edward Pentin for the National Catholic Register, Ragona, above – author of My Name Is Satan — Stories of Exorcisms From the Vatican to Medjugorje (published in Italian) – said:
I have found archival documents with sworn testimonies of the people closest to Pius XII. In the book I recall Sister Pascalina Lehnert, the Pope’s former governess, who revealed how much Pope Pacelli was doing everything he could to stop Hitler’s madness and for this reason, in addition to praying, the nun said, the Holy Father also performed exorcisms on the Führer in his private chapel in the presence of the nuns.
He added:
Some German cardinals and bishops were in fact convinced that Hitler was possessed, and then there is the testimony of Pius XII’s nephew who revealed that in 1958, on the eve of the very important Italian political elections, the Pope performed exorcisms to ward off demonic action from affecting the outcome of the vote. Pacelli was obviously spiritually supporting the Christian Democrats and there was the ‘danger’ of a communist victory.
We know that already in 1949 Pius XII approved a decree of the then-Holy Office [now known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith] that declared registering any form of support for the Communist Party was inadmissible, and that those who professed to believe the communist doctrine would be excommunicated.
In the end the Christian Democrats won and Pius XII was clearly relieved. As for Hitler, unfortunately, we know how things went.
The book claims that Francis, in his first year as Pope in 2013, twice carried out a “remote” exorcism from the Vatican on a Mexican identified as “Angel V” who was possessed by four demons.He did this in conjunction with a priest who was physically present with the man.
That did not work out too well either.
He is a little better but still not free. The exorcist priest who accompanied him received a message from the devil that Angel will be freed when the abortion law is changed in the country.
The four demons are still in the body of the man, and they said that they will leave on the day of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, but – Angel’s spiritual father explained to me – we do not know which year. An interesting fact: when the Pope visited Mexico [in 2016] he was also in Morelia, where Angel lives, and on the flight back to Rome he ‘thundered’ against abortion!
Abortion is severely restricted in all but two parts of the country: Mexico City and the state of Oaxaca.
What possessed Ragona to write his book? Ragona explained:
There are two reasons behind the birth of this book: on the one hand, the desire – arising from a dialogue with some exorcist priests – to shake consciences in the face of a phenomenon that is increasingly underestimated. Unfortunately, the devil in today’s society is perceived in most cases only as a vestige of medieval times, a ‘bogeyman’ …. that was used to terrorize the weakest. It is thanks to this widespread incredulity that the devil is able to gain more and more ground by creeping in slowly and without being noticed.
On the other hand, this book was born because of a promise I made to an exorcist who, before dying, after having allowed me to witness an exorcism, told me: ‘When I am gone, you will have to make everything public, to give this important testimony too.’
Ragona also revealed that the devil really, really hates emeritus Pope Benedict XVI:
Due to his great charity, his way of living the liturgy, his respect for the rules, his rigour.
He knows this how?
I discovered that Cardinal [Ivan] Dias performed an exorcism in St. Peter’s Square in 2012 inside the Swiss guardhouse. That day the devil had revealed himself during a Mass celebrated in the square by Benedict XVI.
Ratzinger’s words, he said:
Greatly annoyed the devil who, during exorcisms, often spoke badly of Joseph Ratzinger.
Asked what conclusions he drew from his exorcism investigations, Ragona said:
That unfortunately the devil is not an invention of some marketing expert: evil really exists and is just around the corner. I have carried out a journalistic investigation for this very reason, to study the phenomenon and look at every single case with my own journalist’s eyes.
A small example: many people think that it is not a real diabolical possession but a mental illness. But how is it therefore possible that the possessed, during the trance phase, can read the minds of exorcists? Many priests, in order to understand if it is true possession, recite prayers in their minds without uttering a word. The possessed then begin to stir, to scream, to rage against the priest and say to him: ‘Stop praying!!!’
How is this possible? It’s incredible! And instead, unfortunately, it’s all true!
Ragona’s exorcism claim is not new. In a 2009 book – Pius XII – The Hound of Hitler – Catholic scholar Gerard Noel and former Catholic Herald editor claimed the then Pope got up in the middle of the night to attempt to exorcise Hitler, and that Pius was “not anti-Jewish or pro-Hitler”, but was motivated by:
Huge ambition for the Catholic Church, which he believed to be the one true Church. Pius XII was a disaster for the Jews, not because he was antisemitic, but because he had great political ambitions. His attitude was also moulded by the fact that he was a product of the pre-Vatican Council Church, which believed in the conversion of the Jews to Christianity.
Noel examined in detail the fateful impact of the Concordat of 1933 between the Holy See and the Third Reich, which led directly to Hitler’s ascent to power.
Until the Concordat, Germany’s Catholic Church had been strongly opposed to Hitler. In return for widespread material concessions for the Catholic Church in Germany, the Holy See guaranteed that German Catholics would refrain from all partisan political activity. This involved the disbandment, by papal directive, of the German Centre [Catholic] Party.
The party held the balance of power, and without them, Hitler was able to assume supreme power. Within days of the Concordat, Hitler began his round-up of the Jews. And once he had signed the Concordat, Pius was afraid that if he criticised Hitler or Nazism, he would split the Catholic Church in Germany.