Needless to say, there's no confirmation for Amorth's claims, and if there were, the more likely explanation would be poor mentally ill people engaging in self-mutilation by swallowing sharp objects – of which the literature is rife without need to appeal to Satan (quite often it's nails or pins these people swallow – http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/23/3/731…. ).

Even the most cursory bit of thought would show that Amorth should not be given credence. Let's assume he's been conducting exorcisms since the age of 20. Given his age of 85 and discounting leap years, thats 365 days a year * 65 years = 23,725 days. For his wild-eyed claim of 70,000 exorcisms to be true, he'd have had to have performed just shy of 3 (2.95) exorcisms a day, every day from then until now. Given that even one a day for sixty-five years would be hard to swallow (harder than pins and needles even), and the idea of bulk exorcisms to make up the difference just as unlikely, and his claim can't possibly be true. The man is obviously filled with self-worth and living in his own fantasy world. “The exorcist has one principal duty… to free human beings from the fear of the Devil.” It would seem he's doing just the opposite… trying to scare people to make himself seem more powerful and important and get newspaper interviews and book deals, and is tolerated because this media blitz comes on the heels of more Church sex scandal revelations, including a videotape in Rio.

Ms. Williams put it best when she wrote in Salon, “At least Amorth didn't completely insult the planet by suggesting that pedophila can be waved away with a little holy water and some incantations, any more than it can by transferring the offender to another parish…. Until the Vatican gets it through its thick skull that sexual abuse isn't a sin but a crime, isn't a moral weakness but a dangerous pathology, it's going to continue putting up with predators within its ranks, thinking they can say they're sorry and make it all go away. It will go on holding the devil responsible for its own worst acts. And it will continue condemning its youngest and most vulnerable members to hell on earth.”

I've grown up in church and have admittedly never encountered a haunted or possessed church. There have been cases of demon possession where the minister along with deacons/others prayed over the person. I can only assume it was a real possession as that is what the minister said was causing all the odd growling noises.