We tracked down Father Walter H. Halloran, a Jesuit who assisted in the famous
excorcism that served as the model for the blockbuster movie, The Exorcist. Now living
in San Diego, where he is assistant pastor at St. Martin of Tours Church,
Father Halloran still vividly remembers the case, which took place in 1949 and
involved a young boy named Rob (not a girl) from the Washington-Baltimore area,
with the final exorcism conducted in St. Louis, where the boy had relatives. Father Halloran
assisted
the main exorcist, Father William S. Bowdern of St. Francis Xavier Church in
St. Louis. Father Halloran says the boy was 11. Others say 13.
SD: Father, how
many times were you present in the exorcism sessions?
Fr. Halloran: I
suppose every night for three weeks.
SD: Did you have
any insight into the origin of the problem?
Fr. H: In a way
he was a victim to the frame of mind of the aunt (who was into spiritualism).
SD: What happened
at the end? We're told the Archangel Michael manifested.
Fr. H: I was
taken off five days before the conclusion, but from what I understand there
was a very loud sound, a boom -- sort of like a sonic boom -- and then
the boy opened his eyes and said St. Michael came and that it was over. At the
same time this took place there were about six or seven priests over in the
college church saying their office and there was a huge boom over there and
the whole church was completely lit up. Father Bowdern, who was doing the
exorcism, and the boy were at the rectory. There was a very, very bright light
that lit up the whole church.
SD: What was the
most striking physical phenomena that you witnessed yourself during the
exorcisms?
Fr. H: I think
the markings on the boy's body. I didn't think there was any way they could
have been self-induced, the marks, the scratches, the words, the numbers and
that sort of thing that appeared [in blood red]. When the evil spirit took
over the child, there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. There were a
couple of times when something very dangerous might have happened and he had
no recollection whatsoever of anything that took place when he was in one of
these sieges. And that affected me, the power that someone or something has
over someone.
SD: Did you see
anything fly across the room or furniture move?
Fr. H: Yeah. The
first night I was there I
was kneeling at the bed on which the boy was lying and the bed started
going up and down and then I just about got hit with a holy water bottle that
was sitting on the dresser and came flying across the room and just missed me
by an inch or two.
SD: How high was
the bed going?
Fr. H: Oh, I'd
say eight inches.
SD: Was there any
particular prayer that the evil spirit seemed to react to the most?
Fr. H: Yes. It
was more elements or words or phrases in each prayer. Whenever the Blessed
Mother's name would be invoked or mentioned, the child would get very, very
agitated and when Our Lord's name -- Christ, Our Lord, or Jesus --when that
was said, and the same thing with Michael the Archangel. And then he'd become
very, very agitated with holy water. With some of the prayers you sprinkle the
person with holy water and he'd become wild, physically wild, flying around
and that sort of thing.
SD: Flailing
around with his hands, that sort of thing?
Fr. H: Yeah.
SD: Did you see
the 'Exorcist' movie?
Fr. H: I saw it
right after it came out. I went with Father Bowdern and I thought it was a
typical Hollywood, glitzy thing, real bizarre, trying to bring people to be
fearful or to scream. I was disappointed with it. I thought it was a mess. And
Father Bowdern did too. He gave sort of a running negative commentary
throughout the whole movie. I thought the two of us were going to be thrown
out of the theatre.
SD: So there was
no neck craning around?
Fr. H: No. It was
just ridiculous, and the gross one where the little girl is masturbating with
a crucifix. It just didn't happen, that's all, and the huge amount of green
vomit: Nonsense.
SD: There was
some spitting, though, wasn't there?
Fr. H: Yeah,
there was spitting, and when I think back on it, it amazes me, his accuracy.
He'd spit right in your eye from about eight feet away.
SD: I understand
at one point you saved the boy's life. He was ready to go over a cliff, wasn't
he?
Fr. H: Yeah. I
took him out to the retreat house in St. Louis, a very pretty place, to get
out of the hospital and get some fresh air, and he didn't know anything about
the Stations of the Cross and so I asked if he wanted to learn and he's says,
oh sure. He was an affable little kid. Not many 11-year-old would say they
were interested in finding out about the Stations of the Cross, but he was.
And I explained what each one signified and we got to the 12th station and I
said, this commemorates Christ dying on the cross and with that he took off
and ran toward the edge of a bluff that dropped down about 150, 200 feet down
to the tracks and I hollered at him and nothing happened so I ran and for once
in my life I made a decent tackle.
SD: Did you have
any manifestation afterward, or was that the end of it? Did you come under
demonic attack afterwards?
Fr. H: No, I
never did.
SD: Did you fast
during that whole thing?
Fr. H: On and off
I did.
SD: Bread and
water?
Fr. H: No, things
like just taking a cup of coffee and a piece of toast and skipping a meal and
at that time we were still practicing abstinenence during Lent.
SD: Did Father
Bowdern fast?
Fr. H: He did
quite a bit, and sometimes he would go off because he was getting worn out
[the exorcism lasted six weeks].
SD: How old were
you?
Fr. H: About 28.
SD: Anything else
that sticks out in your mind when you think back about Rob?
Fr. H: Well, when
they baptized him -- it was a conditional baptism, because he had been
baptized a Lutheran as a baby -- when they went through the ceremony
again, on the way down to the church from his uncle's home, he kept grabbing
the steering wheel of the car. He had the car up on the boulevard and some
close calls of hitting or being hit by other cars. Then when they were giving
him first Holy Communion, and I was present for this, he really fought that,
he was flailing around and he'd open his mouth and then as soon as Father
Bowdern came close with a Host, he'd swing at him. And I was supposed to be
holding him all this time. But he'd relax and I'd relax a little bit and then
he'd get an arm free and [the voice would] keep yelling, "No! He will not
receive" or -- and his eyes were closed! -- he'd take a swing at Father
Bowdern in the groin and say, "How's that for a nutcracker?" And
then it must have been 15 or 20 minutes of this carrying on and he relaxed and
received Holy Communion.
SD: Did you fear
for your life.
Fr. H: No, not
really. But I wondered why me, what purpose I was there for. There was
one
time he asked us to stop and took his pajama top off and he was
covered with
these marks, scratches, and he said they hurt. It was Holy Thursday
and I was
telling him about Holy Thursday and he started writhing around in pain
and he said, look, I can't stand this. He seemed more affected when I
said things
like "the Blessed Sacrament" or mentioned the ordination of priests
and things like that.
SD: What a
confirmation of the power of our faith, and the powers that
struggle with each other on this earth.
Fr. H: Yes.
That's what affected me most, and I guess that's why I was so disappointed
with the movies.
SD: Do you think
it was Satan or a demon?
Fr. H: During the
rite when it was asked its name the only answer I can remember that was given
was "legion," which reminds us of the swineherd running into the
lake.
There was victory at the end
and the boy eventually married and settled back on the East Coast after
attending Loyola High School in Baltimore. Father Bowdern died more than
thirty years after the exorcism, in 1983.
reprint of an article by Michael Brown of www.Spiritdaily.com
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