The healing of a bleeding woman, Rome, Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter. / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 12, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The book “The Example of the First Christians,” published in 2023 by the University of Navarra, examines the early followers of Jesus of Nazareth, whose lives continue to inspire and resonate with Catholics of all times, including today.
The book’s author, Gabriel Larrauri, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that although people and circumstances change over the centuries, those who trusted in the words of Jesus and in the transmission of his message through the apostles “experienced a situation similar to the current one, and they faced its risks with complete naturalness.”
Larrauri summarizes five hallmarks of early Christian living that continue to be applicable to Christ’s followers today.
1. Total commitment
For the author, the first followers of the Gospel message “are proof of how the world can be transformed.”
They were “normal people who knew how to be heroic, men and women who in their ordinary lives achieved extraordinary things and left a profound mark on the history of humanity.”
2. Coherence and courage
For Larrauri, those who formed the first communities of followers of Christ “are like lights that come from afar and that illuminate us today.” Specifically, “considering their fidelity and their courage can help us a lot.”
The author pointed to “their example of transforming the world from within, without living apart, shutting themselves off or evading the daily reality of the society in which they lived.”
Just like today in some contexts, the first Christians were few in number, lacked human wherewithal and didn’t have, at least for a long time, great thinkers or important public figures, Larrauri explained.
Coherence and courage are the key to understanding how “they were not intimidated” in the midst of a social environment marked by “indifferentism” and a lack of values, “similar in many ways to what we are facing now.”
3. Countercultural
The third quality the first Christians had that Larrauri highlighted is the ability to face persecution. “The Church upholds a lifestyle that must be lived against the tide,” which is why “being a Christian today can be described as risky.”
In fact, according to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Christianity “is the most persecuted religion in the world,” Larrauri noted, and so “having the first Christians to look to helps us face these circumstances.”
Knowing their example, “even going so far as to give their lives to remain steadfast in their faith, can fill us with strength,” the author pointed out.
4. The Eucharist
From the beginning, the celebration of the Eucharist “played a central role” in the life of the first Christians. “It is wonderful to see the faith and love with which the first Christians treated Jesus in the Eucharistic bread,” Larrauri noted, adding that “it is moving to see how we continue to celebrate the same Mass that was celebrated in the first century.”
5. Loving others
In addition to all this, there was the mutual love, brotherhood, and care they had for each other. For Larrauri, “perhaps the greatest characteristic of the life of the first Christians was how they knew how to love one another. This was to be the sign by which the pagans would recognize them.”
Loving one another as Jesus Christ did “is the legacy they have left us and what we must transmit. It’s not just about philanthropy or humanitarianism: They are willing — as Tertullian said — to give their lives for others,” Larrauri explained.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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The trailer of the upcoming Russell Crowe movie “The Pope’s Exorcist” indicates that the film might not do justice to the Italian exorcist Father Gabriel Amorth or the rite of exorcism as practiced in the Catholic Church, according to an exorcist organization Amorth himself helped to found.
The International Association of Exorcists on March 7 voiced concern that the film seems to fall under the category of “splatter cinema,” which it calls a “sub-genre of horror.”
The Vatican, the statement said, is filmed with a high-contrast “chiaroscuro” effect seen in film noir.
This gives the film a “‘Da Vinci Code’ effect to instill in the public the usual doubt: Who is the real enemy? The devil or ecclesiastical ‘power’?” the exorcists’ association said.
While special effects are “inevitable” in every film about demonic possession, “everything is exaggerated, with striking physical and verbal manifestations, typical of horror films,” the group said.
“This way of narrating Don Amorth’s experience as an exorcist, in addition to being contrary to historical reality, distorts and falsifies what is truly lived and experienced during the exorcism of truly possessed people,” said the association, which claims more than 800 exorcist members and more than 120 auxiliary members worldwide.
“In addition, it is offensive with regard to the state of suffering in which those who are victims of an extraordinary action of the devil find themselves,” the group’s statement added. The statement responded to the release of the movie trailer and promised a more in-depth response to the film’s April 14 theatrical release.
Father Gabriele Amorth, chief exorcist of Rome, speaks to CNA on May 22, 2013. Steven Driscoll/CNA
Amorth, who died at age 91 in 2016, said he performed an estimated 100,000 exorcisms during his life. He was perhaps the world’s best-known exorcist and the author of many books, including “An Exorcist Tells His Story,” reportedly an inspiration for the upcoming movie.
Several of Amorth’s books are carried by the U.S. publisher Sophia Institute Press. The publisher’s newly released book “The Pope’s Exorcist: 101 Questions About Fr. Gabriele Amorth” is an interview in which the priest addresses many topics ranging from prayer to pop music.
Michael Lichens, editor and spokesperson at Sophia Institute Press, voiced some agreement with the exorcist group.
“The International Association of Exorcists is right to be concerned and I’m thankful for their words,” Lichens told CNA. “My hope is that audiences will remember that Father Amorth is a real person with a great legacy and perhaps a few moviegoers will look up an interview or pick up his books.”
“This was a man who included St. Padre Pio and Blessed Giacomo Alberione as mentors, as well as Servant of God Candido Amantini, who was his teacher for the ministry of exorcism,” he said. “Father Amorth fought as a partisan as a young man and grew to fight greater evil as an exorcist. His life is an inspiration and I know that his work and words will still reach many.”
Amorth was born in Modena, Italy, on May 1, 1925. In wartime Italy, he was a soldier with the underground anti-fascist partisans. He was ordained a priest in 1951. He did not become an exorcist until 1986, when Cardinal Ugo Poletti, the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, named him the diocesan exorcist.
The priest was frequently in the news for his comments on the subject of demonic forces. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph in 2000, he said: “I speak with the devil every day. I talk to him in Latin. He answers in Italian. I have been wrestling with him, day in, day out, for 14 years.”
The movie “The Pope’s Exorcist” claims to be “inspired by the actual files of the Vatican’s chief exorcist.” The Sony Pictures movie stars the New Zealand-born actor Russell Crowe as Amorth. Crowe’s character wears a gray beard and speaks English with a noticeable accent.
“The majority of cases do not require an exorcism,” the Amorth character says in the movie’s first trailer. A cardinal explains that Crowe’s character recommends 98% of people who seek an exorcism to doctors and psychiatrists instead.
“The other 2%… I call it… evil,” Crowe adds.
The plot appears to concern Amorth’s encounter with a particular demon. Crowe’s character suggests the Church “has fought this demon before” but covered it up.
“We need to find out why,” he says.
The trailer shows short dramatic scenes of exorcism, including a confrontation between Amorth and a girl apparently suffering demonic possession.
The International Association of Exorcists said such a representation makes exorcism become “a spectacle aimed at inspiring strong and unhealthy emotions, thanks to a gloomy scenography, with sound effects such as to inspire only anxiety, restlessness, and fear in the viewer.”
“The end result is to instill the conviction that exorcism is an abnormal, monstrous, and frightening phenomenon, whose only protagonist is the devil, whose violent reactions can be faced with great difficulty,” said the exorcist group. “This is the exact opposite of what occurs in the context of exorcism celebrated in the Catholic Church in obedience to the directives imparted by it.”
CNA sought comment from Sony Pictures and “The Pope’s Exorcist” executive producer Father Edward Siebert, SJ, but did not receive a response by publication.
Amorth co-founded the International Association of Exorcists with Father René Laurentin in 1994. In 2014 the Catholic Church recognized the group as a Private Association of the Faithful.
The association trains exorcists and promotes their incorporation into local communities and normal pastoral care. It also aims to promote “correct knowledge” about exorcism ministry and collaboration with medical and psychiatric experts who have competence in spirituality.
Exorcism is considered a sacramental, not a sacrament, of the Church. It is a liturgical rite that only a priest can perform.
Hollywood made the topic a focus most famously in the 1973 movie “The Exorcist,” based on the novel by William Peter Blatty.
“Most movies about Catholicism and spiritual warfare sensationalize,” Lichens of Sophia Institute Press told CNA. “Sensationalism and terror sell tickets. As a fan of horror movies, I can understand and even appreciate that. As a Catholic who has studied Father Amorth, though, I think such sensationalism distorts the important work of exorcism.”
“On the other hand, ‘The Exorcist’ made the wider public more curious about this overlooked ministry. That is a good thing that came out, despite other reservations and concerns,” he continued. “Still, I would love it if a screenwriter and director spoke to exorcists and tried to show the often-quotidian parts of the ministry.”
An unhealthy curiosity can be a problem, Lichens said.
“When I work as a spokesperson for Amorth’s books, I am always concerned about inspiring curiosity about the demonic,” he told CNA. “As Christians, we know we have nothing to fear from the demonic but curiosity might lead some to want to seek out the supernatural or the demonic. Father Amorth has dozens of stories of people who found themselves afflicted after party game seances.”
Lichens encouraged those who are curious to read more of Amorth’s writings, some of which are excerpted on the Catholic Exchange website. Sophia Institute Press has published “Diary of an American Exorcist” by Monsignor Stephen Rosetti and “The Exorcism Files” by the American lay Catholic Adam Blai.
“First and foremost, Father Amorth was involved in a healing ministry,” Lichens said. “Like other exorcists, his work often involved doctors in physical and mental health because the goal is to bring healing and hope to the potentially afflicted.”
“Those of us who read Amorth might have been excited to read firsthand accounts of spiritual warfare, but readers quickly see a man whose heart was always full of love for those who sought his help,” he added.
The International Association of Exorcists, for its part, praised the 2016 documentary “Deliver Us,” saying this shows “what exorcism really is in the Catholic Church and “the authentic traits of a Catholic exorcist.” It shows exorcism as “a most joyful event,” in their view, because through experiencing “the presence and action of Christ the Lord and of the Communion of the Saints,” those who are “tormented by the extraordinary action of the devil gradually find liberation and peace.”
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1 Comment
All are standard except Countercultural when compared with the mission of V II to engage the world. The latter remains a worthy effort, the former takes on a radical priority because of the remarkably evil cultural changes that occurred during the decades since.
The art required is being within an antichristian culture as a moderating element to the violence, sexual depravity without adding to hostility and violence. Perhaps meeting this latter challenge may occasion the confrontational martyr spirit of our early Church. Laurari’s work suggests this. That’s how deep the moral differences are since we’re living within a return to paganism of the worst kind. Laurari advises coherence and courage, which we can be assured bring us Christ’s consolation.
All are standard except Countercultural when compared with the mission of V II to engage the world. The latter remains a worthy effort, the former takes on a radical priority because of the remarkably evil cultural changes that occurred during the decades since.
The art required is being within an antichristian culture as a moderating element to the violence, sexual depravity without adding to hostility and violence. Perhaps meeting this latter challenge may occasion the confrontational martyr spirit of our early Church. Laurari’s work suggests this. That’s how deep the moral differences are since we’re living within a return to paganism of the worst kind. Laurari advises coherence and courage, which we can be assured bring us Christ’s consolation.