Number of exorcists in the U.S. has grown says priest

From KTVI - myFOXstl.com --

The 1973 horror film, "The Exorcist," is considered one of the scariest movies ever made. Surprisingly, the church says the movie is a fairly reliable guide in what to look for in possession. "Everything that appears in the film happened in some exorcism in history. Everything. Even the case of the demon going inside the priest,” said Father Jose Antonio Fortea, who is considered one of the world's leading authorities on exorcism. The priest from Madrid, Spain is a Vatican trained exorcist. He was in St. Louis recently, but would not say why. Dan asked if there are Catholic exorcists in St. Louis. "I will not say about names or dioceses where exorcists are but here in the diocese, of course, they will take care of every case, I assure you," the priest answered.

After writing a doctorate thesis on exorcism and demonic possession, Fortea wrote a book called "Interview With An Exorcist." He has performed dozens of exorcisms over the past ten years.

Fr. Fortea: "I have everyday."

Dan Gray: "Everyday?"

Fr. Fortea: "Everyday a knock at the door of my parish, people wanting to know if they are possessed or not."

Fortea says in every case the exorcist must look for four types of behavior to determine possession:

Superhuman Strength

"Very often you need four, six or even more people to restrain a person," Fortea said.

Fierce Reaction To Holy Things

Use Of Languages That The Person Normally Would Not Know

Hidden Knowledge

"I remember one case, she knew perfectly whole Bible," the priest said.

Fortea says in most exorcisms he confronts demons but one case was very different. He told Dan in an exclusive interview, "We continue praying and a terrible roar appear and he spoke with pride that we did not experience before. And when we ask tell us your name, in the name of Jesus, he say I am Satan."

The priest says during that exorcism Satan forecast the war in Iraq. "Before the war of Iraq, we did not ask to him but he say I won the war because I won suffering, destruction and death."

Fortea says there are now about 70 Catholic exorcists in the U.S, up from four just four years ago. The reason for the increase in possessions?

"Almost always is witchcraft, witchcraft or somebody related to a satanic cult that invoked demons to get that person. People that go to Satanic rock concerts that hear for hours and hours that kind of music then they are affected by unclean spirits. The whole evil that is in the world, the root is a spiritual root. If everybody go be fearful servant of God this world would be Eden."

Father Fortea says he meets people who are skeptical of demonic possession and he does consult psychiatrists to determine if a person who fears they are possessed has a mental problem. But he says some cases can't be explained by psychiatry. He says if people pray and read the Bible everyday, evil influences will disappear step by step.

Be sure to go to Dan Gray's Blog on myFOXstl.com to hear my more of his personal comments about interviewing an exorcist.