[September 11, 2000].

The pope conducted an impromptu exorcism at the Vatican last week. He was blessing visitors during his weekly audience when a 19-year-old Italian woman began screaming and cursing “in an agitated and cavernous voice clearly not her own,” witnesses said, according to The Times of London. The woman also uttered a stream of words in an unknown language, the report said. …The woman pushed away a vial of holy water “in fear and disgust” and demonstrated superhuman strength when aides tried to restrain her, the newspaper reported. Gabriele Amorth, a priest who heads the International Association of Exorcists and has conducted 3,000 exorcisms, said he had tried to conduct an exorcism on the woman, but was unsuccessful. The pope then spent about a half hour talking with the woman and praying for her. …The pope “struck the target,” Amorth said. The girl had been the victim of a curse since the age of 12, he said. The woman at first appeared to be fine, but later may have reverted to her previous behavior, The Telegraph reported.

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