Interview with exorcist Jose Antonio Fortea

Trained by Vatican exorcist Gabriele Amorth, Father Jose Antonio Fortea is not only an exorcist, but also a writer, calligrapher and parish priest. He once thought he would lead what he has termed ordinary life as an attorney in Madrid, much as his father did before him, but sensed instead a vocation to the priesthood in his adolescent years.

A theology graduate of Navarre University in Spain, Father Fortea wrote a thesis there on exorcism. He has been a practicing exorcist for some twenty years. One of his cases, recounted in Spero News as "Marta: the possessed" in 2005, was of a seemingly normal young woman could go into a trance while possessed and writhe like a snake on the floor of chapel near Madrid. A session of her continuing exorcism was witnessed by skeptical Spanish journalists who came away shocked, shaken, and mystified.

Father Fortea’s efforts, with help from other professionals, have yet to bear fruit in her case. But others have been successfully relieved of demonic possession, while many have benefited from Father Fortea’s book and learned about the practice of exorcism. “”Interview With an Exorcist: An Insider's Look at the Devil, Demonic Possession, and the Path to Deliverance is available in English, while Father Fortea’s several novels and manuscripts are yet to be translated from Spanish.

Spero News Religion editor Martin Barillas conducted an interview via email with Father Fortea in which he answered questions about possession and ways to avoid it.

MB: May a possessed person receive communion? Why or why not?

FORTEA: Yes, it is not only licit but also quite necessary. In moments of crisis, the demon moves the body of the possessed even while possession does not diminish liberty. It is therefore that a possessed person may confess and be in God’s grace.

MB: What difference is there between a possessed person and a sinner who receives Holy Commun