The Nun II brings a refreshingly feminist gloss to well-worn tropes within exorcism fiction, shattering assumptions about who should be the victim and who should be the rescuer.
Nebuchadnezzar – William Blake (c.1805). Tate Britain.
Humans have attempted to understand and treat mental illness for centuries – from ancient Greek medicine, Middle Ages exorcisms and the rise of asylums, to modern medical breakthroughs.
A still from the film ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ showing Russell Crowe as the real-life Vatican exorcist.
Sony Pictures
In reality, most Roman Catholic exorcists recognise the danger of encouraging a person suffering from auditory hallucinations to believe that these are demonic.
A much talked-about scene from the latest Netflix horror raises important questions about how the Bible deals with mental health.
Members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal organization, which began in Pennsylvania in 1967, holding a meeting in France.
Photo by Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma via Getty Images
The Catholic charismatic movement in the United States began during the 1960s. The practices of Catholic charismatics encompass various forms of Pentecostalism.
Illustrations from the Nuremberg Chronicle, by Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514)
Laura Sumrall, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
Reports of demonic possession are once again on the rise. But during the devil’s last apogee in early modern Europe, demonic afflictions were taken seriously by both priests and physicians.
A painting showing Saint Francis Borgia, a 16th century saint,, performing an exorcism.
Francisco Goya
Forty-five years ago, ‘The Exorcist’ terrified viewers with its portrayal of a practice that goes back several centuries and continues today in Christianity.
Pennsylvania grand jury accused Cardinal Wuerl of helping to protect abusive priests when he was Pittsburgh’s bishop.
AP Photo/Kevin Wolf
While many American Catholics believe demons and exorcism to be part of a distant past, an expert explains how beliefs that sexual desires could be part of demonic temptation still persist.