US cardinal: Exorcist role should be ‘private’ after priest’s removal tied to UFO controversy

Exorcist role should be 'private' after priest's removal tied to UFO controversy

In this file photo, Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti, then a clinical associate professor at The Catholic University of America in Washington, talks during a press conference in Rome Feb. 7, 2012. Msgr. Rossetti was attending a four-day symposium, “Toward Healing and Renewal,” at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. On June 3, 2026, Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy removed Msgr. Rossetti, a well known exorcist priest with an active social …

US cardinal: Exorcist role should be 'private' after priest's removal tied to UFO controversy

ROME (CNS) — Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington said his decision to remove a high-profile priest as an archdiocesan exorcist was driven by the public way he exercised his ministry, not by his specific beliefs about UFOs. Following comments on social media linking UFOs to demonic activity, Msgr. Stephen Rossetti was removed in early June as an exorcist for the Archdiocese of Washington.  In one of his first interviews since the decision, C…

US cardinal: Exorcist role should be ‘private’ after priest’s removal tied to UFO controversy

ROME (CNS) — Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington said his decision to remove a high-profile priest as an archdiocesan exorcist was driven by the public way he exercised his ministry, not by his specific beliefs about UFOs. Following comments on social media linking UFOs to demonic activity, Msgr. Stephen Rossetti was removed in early June as an exorcist for the Archdiocese of Washington.  An exorcist’s role In one of his first interviews si…