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Exorcism of Roland Doe

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The exorcism of Roland Doe refers to events surrounding the supposed possessed status and exorcism of an anonymous American boy, which occurred in the late 1940s: Roland Doe (born circa 1936)[1] is the pseudonym assigned to the exorcized boy by the Catholic Church. Later the pseudonym was changed by author Thomas B. Allen to "Robbie Mannheim".[2][3]

The events reported in the media of the time and the subsequent supernatural claims surrounding those events went on to inspire the 1971 novel The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty and the 1973 film of the same name, as well as Thomas B. Allen's 1993 historical account Possessed, a second edition of it in 1999, and the 2000 film by the same name, based on Allen's book.

Origin of claims

Most of the information regarding "Roland Doe" and the events surrounding his alleged possession and exorcism comes from a diary kept by the attending priest, Fr. Raymond Bishop. At the time of the alleged events (circa mid-1949) several newspaper articles printed anonymous reports. These were later traced back to the family's former clergyman, Reverend Luther Miles Schulze.[4][5] The pseudonym "Roland Doe" was assigned by the Catholic Church to the boy in question. Roland has no memory of being possessed.[6]

Thomas Allen released his book Possessed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of The Exorcist. The book is based on two sources; Bishop's diary, and the testimony of Rev. Walter H. Halloran. Halloran was one of the last surviving eyewitnesses of the events, and someone who participated in the exorcism. Halloran has noted on many occasions that he, Fr. Bowdern, and Fr. Bishop all believe the case to be an actual case of possession.[7]

Author Mark Opsasnick investigated these events and spoke to people involved in the case — including several people close to Roland and his family, other priests in their parish, a source at the hospital mentioned in the claims, Thomas Allen and Father Halloran.[7] In his article Opsasnick describes the inconsistencies he found in the reports and other testimonies which he claims brings into question the veracity of the claims as reported in Allen's book, especially the more fantastic and supernatural claims, such as the claim that Mannheim spoke languages he couldn't know. According to Opsasnick, Father Halloran admitted that he thought Roland had merely mimicked Latin words he heard the clergymen speak.[8] Opsasnick concludes, "Those involved saw what they were trained to see".[9]

Early life

Roland was born into a German Lutheran Christian family. During the 1940s the family lived in Cottage City, Maryland.[10] According to Allen, Roland was an only child and depended upon adults in his household for playmates, primarily his Aunt Harriet. His aunt, who was a spiritualist, introduced Roland to the Ouija board when he expressed interest in it.[11] When Roland was thirteen his aunt died in St. Louis. Several books suppose that Roland tried to contact his deceased aunt via Ouija board.[12]

Possession and exorcism

According to Allen's book, supernatural activity began soon after Aunt Harriet's death.[13] This includes the sound of squeaky and marching feet as well as other strange noises.[14] [15] Furniture moved on its own accord,[15] and ordinary objects, including a vase, allegedly flew or levitated.[16] A container of holy water placed near him smashed to the ground.[17] Nine priests and thirty-nine other witnesses signed the final ecclesiastical papers documenting Roland's experience.[18][19]

The frightened family turned to their Lutheran clergyman, Rev. Luther Miles Schulze,[4] for help. According to a report made by Reverend Schulze to The Evening Star, a Washington D.C. newspaper,[4] the boy was examined by both medical and psychiatric doctors, who could offer no explanation for these disturbing events taking place. Reverend Schulze arranged for the boy to spend the night of February 17 in his home in order to observe him.[20] The boy slept near the minister in a twin bed and the minister reported that in the dark he heard vibrating sounds from the bed and scratching sounds on the wall.[20] During the rest of the night he allegedly witnessed some strange events, a heavy armchair in which the boy sat seemingly tilted on its own and tipped over and a pallet of blankets on which the sleeping boy lay inexplicably moved around the room and slapped people in the face.[20] Schulze concluded that there was evil at work in Roland,[21] and a Lutheran rite exorcism would be performed on Roland.[22]

According to the traditional story, the boy then underwent an exorcism under auspices of the Anglican (Episcopal) Church.[22] After this, the case was referred to Rev. Edward Hughes, a Roman Catholic priest, who, after examining the boy at St. James Church,[23] conducted an exorcism on Roland at Georgetown University Hospital, a Jesuit institution.[22]

During the exorcism, the boy inflicted a wound upon the pastor that required stitches. As a result, the exorcism ritual was stopped and the boy went home to be with his family, where strange welts on the boy's body led to desperation. The family then proceeded to take the train to St. Louis.[24] While they were in the city, Roland's cousin contacted one of his professors at St. Louis University, Rev. Raymond J. Bishop, SJ, who in turn, spoke to Rev. William S. Bowdern, an associate of College Church.[24] Together, both vicars visited Roland in his relatives' home, where they noticed his aversion to anything sacred, a shaking bed, flying objects, and Roland speaking in a guttural voice.[25] Rev. Bowdern sought permission from the archbishop to have the plaguing demons cast out from the boy. Permission for Bowdern to perform the exorcism in secret was granted by archbishop, with the requirement that a detailed diary be kept.[25]

Before the exorcism ritual began, Rev. Walter Halloran was called to the psychiatric wing of the hospital, where he was asked to assist Rev. Bowdern.[26] Rev. William Van Roo, a third Jesuit priest, was also there to assist.[26] Rev. Halloran stated that during this scene words such as "evil" and "hell", along with other various marks, appeared on the teenager's body.[26] Moreover, Roland broke Rev. Halloran's nose during the process.[26] The exorcism ritual was performed thirty times over several weeks. When the final exorcism was complete witnesses reported loud noise going off throughout the hospital.[27]

After the exorcism was over, the family was no longer troubled, and moved back to their home.[28] The boy went on to become a successful, happily married man, a father and grandfather.[26][29]

Investigations and explanations

Certain aspects of this story have come under dispute. Mark Opsasnick claims that he found no evidence that Father Hughes ever attempted to exorcise the boy, nor that he received a slash or injury at that time.[30] In addition, Father Halloran himself allegedly told Opsasnick that he did not hear the boy's voice change[31] and that he didn't check the boy's fingernails and see if he made the marks himself.[32] In addition, a friend of Roland allegedly told Opsasnick that the "supernatural" events were exaggerated and that the spitting and bed shaking could be explained logically.[33] Joe Nickell, another investigative journalist/contributor from Strange Magazine, claims that the reliably reported events were not beyond the abilities of a normal teenaged boy.[34]

Over the decades, psychiatric explanations for the boy's experiences have been proposed, including dissociative identity disorder, Tourette's syndrome, schizophrenia, sexual abuse, and group hysteria.[35] Terry D. Cooper, Ph.D., a psychologist, as well as Cindy K. Epperson, a doctoral fellow at the University of Missouri, analyzed the case and came to the conclusion that normal psychological explanations cannot account for the claimed events. Together they wrote a book on the subject called Evil: Satan, Sin, and Psychology.

Gilles de la Tourette's Syndrome, one of the proposed causes of the boy's symptoms, is a neurochemical muscular movement/tic disease, causing involuntary symptoms of vocalizations and movements ("tics") such as twitching, leaping, screaming, making various noises and/or involuntary use of foul language. Obsessive-compulsive disorder, another explanation for the boy's troubles, involves repetition of tasks, extremely impulsive behavior and obsession with ideas. The doctors who examined Roland allegedly found no evidence of any illness or demonstration of any classical symptoms.[36]

Mark Opsasnick concluded (after alleged interviews with close friends of the boy) that the boy was simply a spoiled, disturbed bully who threw deliberate tantrums to get attention and to get out of school.[37]

Literature and film

This exorcism case inspired the 1971 novel The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty.[38] The case also inspired the 1973 film The Exorcist, as well as the 2000 movie Possessed, which is said to be closer to the "real" story since it is based on Allen's book.[38] A documentary was also made of the case, titled In the Grip of Evil.[39]

References

  1. ^ "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-31. Reporters to date have claimed that the 13- or 14-year-old boy was allegedly from Mount Rainier, Maryland. (It was later revealed that his date of birth was [circa 1936], meaning he was actually 13 when the rite of exorcism was finally completed).
  2. ^ Evil: Satan, Sin, and Psychology. Paulist Press. Retrieved 2010-04-02. In 1949, just outside of Washington, DC, a thirteen-year-old boy, who lived with his two parents and grandmother, began to experience some very strange phenomena. We'll call this boy Robbie, the fictional name given to him by historian Thomas Allen, who has written a very sober and fascinating account of this entire case.
  3. ^ "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-31. The Evening Star's account differed from the Post's in that the family was referred to as "Mr. and Mrs. John Doe" and their 13-year-old son "Roland."
  4. ^ a b c "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-31. He turned out to be Reverend Luther Miles Schulze and in this article his experiences with the boy were reported in detail.
  5. ^ "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-31. The most fascinating and in-depth article ever to appear on the subject appeared in the January 1975 edition of Fate magazine.
  6. ^ A Faraway Ancient Country. Lulu. Retrieved 2010-04-03. After over fifty years, this man (whose identity remains a closely guarded secret) has no memories of his possession.
  7. ^ a b "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-31. Possessed is the only book to focus entirely on the exorcism of the possessed boy... and is essentially based on two sources: the 26-page diary ... and interviews with Father Walter H. Halloran Cite error: The named reference "Mark Opsasnick - Possessed is the only book" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  8. ^ "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-31. Did it appear he understood the Latin he was speaking?" "I think he mimicked us. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 57 (help)
  9. ^ "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-31. Those involved saw what they were trained to see. Each purported to look at the facts but just the opposite was true—in actuality they manipulated the facts and emphasized information that fit their own agendas.
  10. ^ "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-31. Rob's home address was listed in the yearbook as being 3807 40th Avenue, Cottage City, Maryland.
  11. ^ Possessed: the true story of an exorcism. Doubleday. Retrieved 2010-04-02. When she stayed at Karl's house, Harriet responded to Roland's interest in board games by introducing him to a new one — the Ouija board.
  12. ^ Good Spirits, Bad Spirits: How to Distinguish Between Them. Writers Club Press. Retrieved 2010-04-02. On January 26, eleven days after the first scratching sounds...Aunt Harriet died in St. Louis...Robbie, who seems to have been devastated by the death, went back to using the Ouija board.
  13. ^ Good Spirits, Bad Spirits: How to Distinguish Between Them. Writers Club Press. Retrieved 2010-04-02. Around the time of Aunt Harriet's death, the scratching sounds in the grandmother's room stopped. Karl proclaimed that the noisy rodent had died or gone away. But upstairs in Robbie's room new noises began,
  14. ^ Good Spirits, Bad Spirits: How to Distinguish Between Them. Writers Club Press. Retrieved 2010-04-02. He described them as squeaky shoes.
  15. ^ a b Paranormal Experiences. Unicorn Books. Retrieved 2010-04-02. Strange noises were heard in the boy's room, furniture moved on its own, pictures fell from the wall and the boy's bed shook violently.
  16. ^ Possessed: the true story of an exorcism. Doubleday. Retrieved 2010-03-27. While the family members were still talking about the flipping chair, one of them pointed to a small table. A vase was slowly rising from the table. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 77 (help)
  17. ^ Paranormal Experiences. Unicorn Books. Retrieved 2010-03-27. As the possession intensified, the boy's suffering increased. Scratches appeared on his body and a container of holy water kept near him smashed automatically on the ground.
  18. ^ Evil: Satan, Sin, and Psychology. Paulist Press. Retrieved 2010-04-03. There were nine Jesuit priests involved in the case; overall, some forty-eigyt eyewitnesses signed the final ecclesiastical document which described Robbie's experience.
  19. ^ The dark side of God: a quest for the lost heart of Christianity. Element. Retrieved 2010-04-03. The film The Exorcist was based on a supposed case of actual possession where a spirit of considerable malignancy was exorcised by Jesuits in 1949 - official reports show that no less than forty-eight people witnessed this exorcism, nine of them Jesuits.
  20. ^ a b c "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-08-01. The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) followed up the Post's scoop with an uncredited article later that evening on August 10, 1949 titled "Minister Tells Parapsychologists Noisy 'Ghost' Plagued Family." The Evening Star's account differed from the Post's in that the family was referred to as "Mr. and Mrs. John Doe" and their 13-year-old son "Roland." It also describes their house as a "one-and-one-half story home in a Washington suburb" and refers to the events as "the strange story of Roland and his Poltergeist." The article tells of the talk given by the minister before the Society of Parapsychology, and recounts his experiences with the boy. The minister told the reporter that Roland had made two trips to a mental hygiene clinic and that during an earlier trip to the Midwest the boy had been subjected to three different rites of exorcism by three different faiths—Episcopal, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic. Cite error: The named reference "Mark Opsasnick - Rev. Schulze" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  21. ^ A Faraway Ancient Country. Lulu. Retrieved 2010-03-27. At a loss, their clergyman told them that there was nothing that he could do, that there was evil at work in the teen, and their best solution would be to seek the help of a Catholic priest.
  22. ^ a b c "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-31. The minister told the reporter that Roland had made two trips to a mental hygiene clinic and that during an earlier trip to the Midwest the boy had been subjected to three different rites of exorcism by three different faiths—Episcopal, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic.
  23. ^ Evil: Satan, Sin, and Psychology. Paulist Press. Retrieved 2007-12-31. So Robbie and his parents went to St. James Church and met with Fr. Albert Hughes, a twenty-nine year old priest. After spending some time with Robbie, Fr. Hughes became convinced that there was something "evil" about the boy.
  24. ^ a b Evil: Satan, Sin, and Psychology. Paulist Press. Retrieved 2010-04-02. The family, desperate at this point, got on a train and headed for St. Louis. Robbie and his parents stayed with their relatives. One of the relatives, Robbie's cousin, was a student at St. Louis university. She had seen so many strange things happen to Robbie that she decided to talk with one of her professors, Fr. Raymond Bishop, SJ. Having listened to her story, Fr. Bishop contacted the pastor of College Church, which is associated with the university.
  25. ^ a b Evil: Satan, Sin, and Psychology. Paulist Press. Retrieved 2010-04-02. Together, Bishop and Bowdern visited Robbie at his relatives' home... After a few contacts, the priests decided that they needed to talk with the archbishop about the possibility of an exorcism.
  26. ^ a b c d e "Jesuit Priest Walter Halloran". The Washington Post. 2005-03-09. Retrieved 2007-12-31. Father Halloran was the last living Jesuit who assisted in the exorcism in 1949 at a psychiatric unit in St. Louis. Father Halloran was a 27-year-old Jesuit scholastic at St. Louis University when a priest called him to the psychiatric wing at Alexian Brothers hospital. The Rev. William S. Bowdern was trying to help a 14-year-old boy from Mount Rainier who he believed was possessed by a demon, and he needed a strong man to help control the boy. A third Jesuit, the Rev. William Van Roo, also was there. "The little boy would go into a seizure and get quite violent," Father Halloran told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1988. "So Father Bowdern asked me to hold him. Yes, he did break my nose." Father Halloran said he saw streaks and arrows and such words as "hell" on the boy's skin. Father Halloran told a reporter that the boy went on to lead "a rather ordinary life." A news account of the incident inspired William Peter Blatty to write his 1971 bestseller, "The Exorcist," which led to the movie in 1973. Blatty's story featured a 12-year-old girl played by Linda Blair. {{cite news}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 789 (help) Cite error: The named reference "Washington Post" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  27. ^ Evil: Satan, Sin, and Psychology. Paulist Press. Retrieved 2010-04-02. When the exorcism was completed, there were reports of a very loud noise, like a shotgun going off, throughout the hospital. Even people who had no idea that an exorcism was occurring on the fifth floor reported the noise.
  28. ^ Paranormal Experiences. Retrieved 2010-04-05. The exorcism ultimately worked and the family was not troubled any more.
  29. ^ For reel: the real-life stories that inspired some of the most popular movies of all time. Berkley Boulevard Books. Retrieved 2010-04-03. "Robbie Mannheim" — whose true identity has never been divulged — went on to become a successful, happily married man and father.
  30. ^ "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-31. The suppositions regarding Father Hughes seemed so absurd I decided to do some in-depth research into the actions of this mysterious priest from St. James Church in Mount Rainier, Maryland. Born Edward Albert Hughes... he was assigned as assistant pastor of St. James (the pastor at the time was Rev. William M. Canning) on Wednesday, June 16, 1948 and served without a break until Saturday, June 18, 1960. Despite what was recorded by Allen in Possessed, there is absolutely no written record of the alleged exorcism attempt by Father Hughes... A source close to the case verified for me that Rob Doe was admitted to Georgetown University Hospital under his real name on the morning of Monday, February 28, 1949 and released at 12 noon on Thursday, March 3, 1949.... (T)here is no evidence that Father Hughes was ever confused at all about this entire situation; there is no evidence whatsoever that Father Hughes had the boy admitted to Georgetown University Hospital or held under restraints.... Thomas Allen himself gives no reference in Possessed regarding these alleged actions; there is no evidence that while hospitalized Rob Doe ever slashed Father Hughes's arm or what the priest's reaction to the attack may have been—Allen even mentions that while Father Hughes mentioned this exorcism attempt during a lecture at Georgetown University, he made no reference to the alleged attack at all..... Of further significance is that... Father Bowdern and Father Bishop were never informed of the alleged first exorcism attempt, and their diary makes no mention of the event.
  31. ^ "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-31. Was there any change in the boy's voice? "Not really."
  32. ^ Mark Opsasnick The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist" Strange Magazine. Accessdate: 2007-12-31. "I asked about the markings or brandings that were said to have appeared on the boy’s body out of nowhere. Did Halloran actually see them materialize on his skin? Did he feel the boy or someone else was responsible? 'I saw them...well, right on the skin...yeah, I did. It wasn’t the boy doing it himself, you know, as far as I could see.' I wanted to know if the markings ever formed numbers or letters or words, as other writers had reported. 'It was kind of hard to really tell.' Was there blood dripping from the marks? 'It looked more like lipstick. There were just some very clear marks like that.' Continuing on this subject I asked if the priests had ever bothered to check the boy’s fingernails for flesh or blood deposits. Halloran was taken aback. After a long pause he said, 'When I was there his hands were nowhere near the markings. 'No, we didn’t check.'"
  33. ^ Mark Opsasnick The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist" Strange Magazine. Accessdate: 2007-12-31. "I knew something was going on before the first article ever came out. It was developing over a period of time and you could see this condition building up. You could say I was in the house and witnessed these things. I attended the local premier of that video [In the Grip Of Evil] and they exaggerated so many things that happened. One of the things that they tried to emphasize in that show was the thing about the boy spitting. Well, with this pair, I noticed that one of the common bonds between them, they found this very clever way of doing it, they could spit with great accuracy up to ten feet. It was a common thing. They’d keep their mouths closed and raise their lips and spit through their teeth and they somehow developed a way to do that. I saw them do that all the time. Another thing was with the bed moving about. In those days the beds had wire springs and were on wheels and it was not too hard at all to make the bed bounce and move about—it was harder to keep it in one place and his bed was like that. A lot of these things can be exaggerated to make a story and that is exactly what happened."
  34. ^ Joe Nickel Exorcism! Driving Out the Nonsense Strange Magazine. Accessdate: 2010/5/20. "Nothing that was reliably reported in the case was beyond the abilities of a teenager to produce. The tantrums, 'trances,' moved furniture, hurled objects, automatic writing, superficial scratches, and other phenomena were just the kinds of things someone of R’s age could accomplish, just as others have done before and since. Indeed, the elements of 'poltergeist phenomena,' 'spirit communication,' and 'demonic possession'-taken both separately and, especially, together, as one progressed to the other-suggest nothing so much as role-playing involving trickery. So does the stereotypical storybook portrayal of 'the devil' throughout."
  35. ^ Evil: Satan, Sin, and Psychology. Paulist Press. Retrieved 2010-04-03. Psychological interpretations have certainly been offered for this case. Some of these interpretations include multiple personality disorder (or what is now called dissociative identity disorder), Tourette's syndrom, schizophernia, sexual abuse by the aunt, and group hysteria.
  36. ^ See Allen
  37. ^ "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". The facts show that he was a spoiled and disturbed only child with a very overprotective mother and a non-responsive father. To me his behavior was indicative of an outcast youth who desperately wanted out of Bladensburg Junior High School at any cost. He wanted attention and he wanted to leave the area and go to St. Louis. Throwing tantrums was the answer. He began to play his concocted game. For his efforts he got a collection of priests (who had no previous exorcism experience) who doted over him as he lay strapped to a bed. His response was that of any normal child—he reacted with rage, he wanted out. Without delving into the dynamics of psychosomatic illness, there is no question there was something wrong with Rob Doe prior to January 1949, something that modern-era psychiatry might have best addressed. Rob Doe was not just another normal teenage boy.
  38. ^ a b Cinema of the occult: new age, satanism, Wicca, and spiritualism in film. Rosemont Publishing & Printing Corp. Retrieved 2010-04-04. Blatty's novel was loosely based on an actual exorcism he heard about, and the producers of Possessed claim the film is closer to the "real" story. Cite error: The named reference "Carrol Lee Fry" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  39. ^ In the Grip of Evil. Retrieved 2010-04-04. Reconstruction of the alleged true story about demonic possession that was behind William Friedkin's The Exorcist. Based on documents, statements and interviews with people who followed the case, including the priests involved in the exorcism, a close look at the events that really happened is shown.

Bibliography

External links

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