Page 88 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - Late January 2019

88 Exorcism! Driving Out the Nonsense

Exorcism! Driving Out the limp and seemed back to normal. He said he had investigate the matter. According to a reportedly
had a vision of a figure in a black robe and cowl informed source, the investigator concluded that
Nonsense walking away in a black cloud (Bishop 1949, R “was not the victim of diabolical possession”

257-262). (Allen 2000, 234). Without wishing to make a
However, after the priests left R claimed categorical judgment, Halloran states that R did
Continued from Page 87
there were odd feelings in his stomach and cried not exhibit prodigious strength, showing nothing
out, “He’s coming back! He’s coming back!” more than what could be summoned by an
According to the diary, “The markings could not
Soon the tantrums and routine of exorcism agitated teenager. As to speaking in Latin,
have been done by the boy for the added reason
continued. R seemed even more violent, hurling Halloran thought that was nothing more than the
that on one occasion there was writing on his
vulgarities, and he had spells of Satan-dictated boy’s having heard repetitious Latin phrases
back” (Bishop 1949, 247). Such na•ve thinking writing and speech, for example: “In 10 days I from the exorcising priest. (Or one occasion “the
is the reason “poltergeists” are able to thrive. A
will give a sign on his chest[;] he will have to devil reportedly spoke school kids’ 'pig Latin'"!)
determined youth, probably even without a wall
have it covered to show my power.” R also Nothing that was reliably reported in the
mirror, could easily have managed such a feat-if
wrote, “Dead bishop” (Bishop 1949, 262-269). case was beyond the abilities of a teenager to
it actually occurred. Although the scratched
Subsequently on April 1, between disturbances, produce. The tantrums, “trances,” moved
messages proliferated, they never again
the youth was baptized in the rectory. furniture, hurled objects, automatic writing,
appeared on a difficult-to-reach portion of the
During all this time the markings - the superficial scratches, and other phenomena were
boy’s anatomy.
random scratches and words - continued to just the kinds of things someone of R’s age
In St. Louis, there were more poltergeist-
appear on R’s body. When there was talk of his could accomplish, just as others have done
type effects, whereupon Father Bishop (the
going to school there, the boy grimaced and before and since. Indeed, the elements of
diarist) was drawn to the case. Bishop left a
opened his shirt to reveal the scratched words, “poltergeist phenomena,” “spirit
bottle of holy water in R’s bedroom but later-
“No school” (Allen 2000, 46), a seemingly communication,” and “demonic possession"-
while the boy claimed to have been dozing-it
childish concern for truly diabolic forces. (The taken both separately and, especially, together,
went sailing across the room. On another
diary mentions only that “No” appeared on the as one progressed to the other-suggest nothing
occasion R’s parents found the way into his
boy’s wrists.) so much as role-playing involving trickery. So
room blocked by a fifty-pound bookcase. A stool
Reportedly, on one occasion R was does the stereotypical storybook portrayal of
“fell over.” Initially, Bishop and another priest,
observed using one of his fingernails (which “the devil” throughout.
Father William Bowdern, believed R could have
were quite long) to scratch the words “HELL” Writer Mark Opsasnik (2000)
deliberately produced all of the phenomena that
and “CHRIST” on his chest. It is unclear investigated the case, tracing the family’s home
had thus far occurred in St. Louis, recognizing
whether or not he realized he was being to Cottage City, Maryland (not Mount Rainier as
that stories of alleged incidents in Maryland
observed at the time. Earlier, the priests once thought), and talked to R’s neighbors and
were, while interesting, hearsay (Allen 2000,
reportedly “saw a new scratch slowly moving childhood friends. The boy had been a very
61-76).
down his leg” (Allen 2000, 180). This sounds clever trickster, who had pulled pranks to
Eventually Bowdern changed his view
mysterious until we consider that the boy could frighten his mother and to fool children in the
and was instructed by Archbishop Joseph Ritter
have made a quick scratch just before the priests neighborhood. “There was no possession,”
to perform an exorcism on the boy. Bowdern
looked-which they did because he suddenly Opsasnik told the Washington Post. “The kid
was accompanied by Father Bishop and Walter
“yelped"-and what they observed was merely was just a prankster” (Saulny 2000).
Halloran (mentioned earlier as providing a copy
the aftereffect of the scratch, the skin’s Of course, the fact that the boy wanted to
of the diary to author Allen), who was then a
developing response to the superficial injury. (I engage in such extreme antics over a period of
Jesuit student. Bowdern began the ritual of
have produced just such an effect on myself three months does suggest he was emotionally
exorcism in R’s room. Scratches began to appear
experimentally, observed by SI’s Ben Radford.) disturbed. Teenagers typically have problems,
on the boy’s body, including the word “HELL”
On April 4, the family decided to return and R seemed to have trouble adjusting-to
on his chest “in such a way that R could look
to their Maryland home due to the father’s need school, his sexual awareness, and other
down upon his chest and read the letters
to work and also to relieve the strain on the concerns. To an extent, of course, he was
plainly.” A “picture of the devil” also appeared
Missouri relatives. But after five days R was challenging authority as part of his self-
on the boy’s leg. “Evidently the exorcism
sent back to St. Louis and admitted to a hospital development, and he was no doubt enjoying the
prayers had stirred up the devil,” the diary states,
run by an order of monks. He was put in a attention. But there is simply no credible
because, after a period of sleep R “began
security room which had bars on its single evidence to suggest the boy was possessed by
sparring” and “punching the pillow with more
window and straps on the bed. During the days demons or evil spirits.
than ordinary force” (Bishop 1949, 255-
the teenager studied the catechism and was A Catholic scholar, the Rev. Richard
257).Soon Bowdern “believed deep in his soul
taken on outings, but at night the “possession” McBrien, who formerly chaired Notre Dame’s
that he was in combat with Satan” (Allen 2000,
continued. There were failed attempts to give theology department, states that he is
117). R thrashed wildly; he spat in the faces of
him Holy Communion, “the devil” at one point “exceedingly skeptical” of all alleged
the priests and even his mother; he contorted and
saying (according to the diary), that he would possession cases. He told the Philadelphia Daily
lashed out; he urinated. Reports the diary:
not permit it (Bishop 1949, 282). News (which also interviewed me for a critical
“From 12:00 midnight on, it was
On April 18, R again announced “He’s look at the subject), “Whenever I see reports of
necessary to hold R during his fights with the
gone!” This time, he said, he had a vision of “a exorcisms, I never believe them.” He has
spirit. Two men were necessary to pin him down
very beautiful man wearing a white robe and concluded that “. . . in olden times, long before
to the bed. R shouted threats of violence at them,
holding a fiery sword.” With it the figure there was a discipline known as psychiatry and
but vulgar language was not used. R spit [sic] at
(presumably Jesus) drove the devil into a pit. long before medical advances . . . what caused
his opponents many times. He used a strong arm
There were no further episodes and Father possession was really forms of mental or
whenever he could free himself, and his blows
Bishop (1949, 291) recorded that on August 19, physical illness (Adamson 2000). Elsewhere
were beyond the ordinary strength of the boy
1951, R and his parents visited the Brothers who McBrien (1991) has said that the practice of
[Bishop 1949, 258].”
had cared for him. “R, now 16, is a fine young exorcism-and by inference a belief in demon
The exorcism continued on and off for
man,” he wrote. “His father and mother also possession-"holds the faith up to ridicule.” Let
days. At times R screamed “in diabolical, high-
became Catholic, having received their first us hope that the enlightened view, rather than the
pitched voice"; he swung his fists, once breaking
Holy Communion on Christmas Day, 1950.” occult one, prevails.
Halloran’s nose; he sat up and sang (for example
the “Blue Danube,” “Old Rugged Cross,” and
Aftermath Joe Nickell, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow
“Swanee”); he cried; he spat; he cursed his
of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI)
father; he mimed masturbation; he bit his
Was R possessed? Or did superstition mask a and "Investigative Files" Columnist for
caretakers. On March 18, there seemed a crisis:
troubled youth’s problems and invite elaborate Skeptical Inquirer. A former stage magician,
as if attempting to vomit, R said, “He’s going,
role-playing? Interestingly, Archbishop Ritter private investigator, and teacher, he is author of
he’s going . . .” and “There he goes.” He went
appointed a Jesuit philosophy professor to numerous books. www.joenickell.com. []