The Rite gets it wrong

In light of Hollywood's new take on exorcism in the Anthony Hopkins film The Rite, Father John Horgan, a scholar on exorcisms and pastor at Vancouver’s Sts. Peter and Paul parish, offers the following: Scenes of “being chained and tied up has nothing to do with the Catholic rite of exorcism,” he said.

Father Horgan was a consultant to the 2005 movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose, a movie loosely based on an actual case in Germany.

He cautions that Hollywood versions of exorcism usually provide a “liberal” interpretation of the actual rite.

“Ours is very sober, reverent. Heads do not turn around” as was made famous in a scene from the 1973 film The Exorcist, the most profitable horror film of all time.