The exorcism of emily rose

Hey people,

well ive seen some trailers of the new movie that is coming out this friday or next friday...cant remember. and it looks pretty creepy.

anyway, i had never heard of this case before. i was just wondering if any of you on here had ever come across her story before or have done any digging around lately on it?

Kind Regards,
DigitalGrl

This movie is an adaptation of the supposedly true story of an exorcism performed on a young woman named Anneliese Michel in Würzburg, Germany in 1976.

Anneliese, born on September 21, 1952 to a devoutly Catholic family, began to experience seizures in 1968. She was promptly diagnosed with a form of epilepsy. Soon thereafter, Anneliese claimed that she was seeing hellish images and came to the conclusion that she was possessed by a demon. There were also stories of voices emanating from nowhere in her presence.

In 1973, after medication had failed to help Anneliese, her parents consulted their local pastors for assistance in performing an exorcism. The Church was naturally reluctant and denied the request, arguing that Anneliese should remain on medication to combat her epilepsy.

Anneliese's behaviour deteriorated and she began to refuse normal food. She also exhibited anti-Christian behaviour, attacking religious images and uttering blasphemies.

In September 1975, the Bishop of Würzburg gave two priests permission to perform the Rituale Romanum rite of exorcism. Although there were some initial improvements in her behaviour, Anneliese slowly grew worse, refusing all food and exhibiting increasingly bizarre behaviour. At the end of her life, Anneliese was suffering from malnutrition and pneumonia. She died on July 1, 1976.

The priests and her parents were put on trial for her death two years later. They were found guilty of manslaughter and got 6 months in prison. The Church later issued a declaration that Anneliese was not, in fact, possessed.

The movie coming out is going to, naturally, alter a few facts to make it more palatable to a largely American audience. The following links provide some decent information regarding the case and the movie:

Brief biographical info from Wikipedia

A Psychology journal that briefly discusses the case

A movie site with some info on the true story

Sony's official site for the movie

Hope this helps. It is probable that Anneliese's strict religious upbrining resulted in her epilepsy being mistaken for evidence of demonic possession.

Sadly, this is not the only case of exorcism-related deaths. The following are links to three recent deaths as a result of exorcism rituals:

Priest Charged In Exorcism Death (Wikinews)

Couple Charged In Possible Exorcism Death (CNN)

Court Hears Exorcism Death Case (BBC)

[edit on 31/8/05 by Jeremiah25]

I have to say that this is one of the only trailers lately that has caught my eye.

Dunno how well it will be though.

This is not usually my sort of movie but perhaps I will have to go see it. I was in Würzburg, Germany in 1976. Military family and that was the last year of a three year tour.

I did not hear about it but at that time I was young and wrapped up in my own life. But I am sure the movie will bring back some memories, it is a very pretty place.


A.T
(-)

Jeremiah25, the links you gave really goes to show that there are people that take their religion to very extents of murder. It is always sad to hear somethin about that.

When i was in the Mid western U.S. a few years back i herd of a woman that thought her baby was posessed and she......

....well i dont want to get into details, not real sure if i will get banned for saying graphic stuff.

But overall she Gruesomly murdered her child on the side walk outside of her house screaming that the devil was in her baby and she was drivin it out.

Needless to say she got many years in prison if not life. It was horrible, but it was even more dispicable because she did it outside, where children have proably played there...........goes to show that the ones accusing others of being possessed may very well be posessed themselves.

You are right, it is sad. I think it bears pointing out that most of the deaths surrounding exorcisms that have taken place in fairly recent times have not been officially acknowledged exorcisms (in the sense that when most people think of exorcism rituals, they picture the elaborate rituals of the Catholic Church), but rather exorcisms performed by non-sanctioned exorcists in less well-known churches. In many cases, the unfortunate victim is in reality suffering from some form of mental or physiological illness, whether it be autism, epilepsy or some other neurological disorder.

The exorcism rite as practiced and endorsed by the Catholic Church is actually quite difficult to obtain approval for. Typically, before a bishop will approve an exorcism, they insist that the individual who is 'possessed' be thoroughly examined by trained medical and psychological personnel, in an attempt to screen out those individuals who in fact suffer from a known and non-supernatural condition. Evidence of demonic possession can include: speaking in languages that are unknown by the victim, displays of unnatural strength, an aversion to religious paraphrenalia and an unexplained knowledge of aspects of stranger's lives. Only when the bishop is thoroughly convinced that the person is not suffering from a more mundane illness or condition, that they are truly possessed, will an exorcism be approved.

As for the rite itself, in 1999 the Vatican announced the first update for the ritual since its inception in 1614. The mechanisms of the ritual remain essentially the same, but there is a focus on seeking medical treatment and consultation prior to any exorcism being approved. Interestingly, Pope John Paul II was said to have performed at least 1 and as many as 3 exorcisms personally during his papacy.

Also interesting is the fact that the number of trained exorcists is on the rise and the Vatican is now offering Catholic priests a new course in exorcism at the Athenaeum Pontificium Regina Apostolorum. And for those keeping score at home, highly (and I do mean highly) controversial exorcist Bob Larson has declared that the demons of Melbourne, in my poor home nation of Australia, are the most vicious in the world.

Sources:

Wikipedia - Exorcism
Wikipedia offers an excellent article on exorcism, including a look at exorcism in Islam and prominent exorcism-related deaths.

CNN - New Exorcism Ritual
This CNN article discusses the new changes to the rite made by the Vatican in 1999.

Free Internet Press - Exorcism Course
This article discusses the new exorcism course being offered to Catholic priests by the Vatican.

Bob Larson Down Under
Forgive me, but I was unable to find a news site that corroborated the Melbourne declaration (although I know it was carried at the time). This site discusses controversial exorcist Bob Larson's claim that Melbourne hosts the world's most vicious demons.

[edit on 31/8/05 by Jeremiah25]

I caught the preview trailer for this flick as well, and while it looks interesting, I'm not sure what ground it can cover that the original "Exorcist" didn't already do. I don't see how it can be as scary. It's purportedly based on a true story, but how closely based is anyone's guess. Still, I noticed that Tom Wilkinson is in it, and he usually doesn't have anything to do with second-rate productions ( "in The Bedroom," "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind," even "Batman Begins"---all great flicks featuring Wilkinson ), so I do have an expectation that it will at least be good.
Interestingly, authors as diverse as leftist "conspiracy theorist" John Judge and right-wing "pro-white" author Gregory Krupey have both written commentaries on how the goal of the original "exorcist" film was to help destory the 60s counterculture and scare people back into church at the time of its release in 1971, noting that the author of the story, William Peter Blatty, was a Jesuit Catholic formwer priest who served in psychological operations during the Viet Nam war, quite possible as part of the notorious Phoenix Program. I found their reasoning behind this claim to be fairly well-argued and presented, and in the wake of the Mason Family murders and Altamont, it could well be that "The Exorcist" did indeed help to scare off those seeking alternative spiritual and societal paths back into the church, particualrly the Catholic church, which saw a marked upward spike in attendance in the early 1970s after the film's release.
I highly doubt that there is a similar somewhat sinister motive behind this newest exorcism flick, but you never know---
---Ryan

From what I understand, this film focuses more on the trial that followed the actual exorcism, wherein the parents of the young woman and the two priests who performed the exorcism were put on trial for her manslaughter. I believe that the exorcism will be portrayed as a series of flashbacks, probably arising through the course of the trial.

[edit on 31/8/05 by Jeremiah25]

That sounds like an interesting plot device, I noticed that the movie was not "R" rated, so I would imagine the violence/gore/horror will be somewhat downplayed in comparison to other exorcism films, so the plotting structure you mention makes perfect sense. I guess it's salted to open on Friday, September 9th. I still think "V For Vendetta" looks to be the premier flick of the fall season, if it's even one tenth as good as the comic it should be fantastic, but this looks and sounds fairly promising, as well, and I'll probably catch it on its first weekend of release.
---Ryan

I'm not sure I see getting Catholics to come back to church as particularly "sinister."

Anyways, it would be a little tough to argue that Hollywood is just a willing shill for Catholic values.

www.the-trades.com...

Sounds interesting.

[edit on 31-8-2005 by saint4God]

Thanks for replying guys.

I found a picture of the real annelise michel on the web. thought you all might want to see it.


www.mdr.de...

and...


www.mystikwelten.de...

now if we could only find some real recordings of the sessions.....
Kind regards,
DG

[edit on 10/01/2004 by DigitalGrl]