The story of a boy under the influence of Satan, which inspired the movie ‘The Exorcist’
The Washington Post published a story on August 20, 1949, which read, “In perhaps the most extraordinary event of its kind in recent religious history, a 14-year-old boy was killed in Mount Rainier, a suburb about 9 miles from Washington, DC.” Delivered by a Catholic priest from Satan’s possession.’
Citing ‘Catholic sources’, the newspaper said the young man had to go through ’20 to 30 operations’ to free him from the jinn’s possession, and that each time the priest reached the climax of the process while reciting the jinn, the boy would ‘recite Latin. He would start screaming, slurring and slurring phrases. It was a language the boy had never studied—’
Shortly thereafter, a young man named William Peter Blatty from the nearby area first heard about the story. At that time he was studying at Georgetown University.
William Peter Blatty used the Washington Post news as the basis for writing his novel ‘The Exorcist’.
By 1971, Blatty was already working as a writer and film scriptwriter. He also wrote the scripts of successful films like ‘The Pink Panther’. At that time he published his novel ‘The Exorcist’. It later became the basis for the film of the same name, which introduced a new type of film in modern cinema.
Surprisingly, 50 years have passed since the release of the novel and the film, and despite its immense success, the true identity and history of the young man whose story inspired the novel remains shrouded in mystery. Is.
Body scratches and moving chairs
Press reports from 1949 identified the 14-year-old boy as Roland Dove (Dove is a common surname in the United States used to anonymize people). The boy started hearing strange noises coming from the walls of his room and a few days later a close family member died.
According to documents from Missouri’s St. Louis Catholic University, “Aunt Tillie” was close to the boy. Some reports claim that she was the one who introduced him to the Ouija board. It was a game that was conceived in the 19th century when spirituality became a religious phenomenon.
According to the press at the time, the family believed that the boy’s attempts to contact his aunt via Ouija board were the cause of the unnatural behavior they were experiencing: they claimed that they had Saw the chairs moving, Roland’s bed was also moving strangely. And that there were also deep marks on the floor for no reason, as if someone had dragged heavy furniture.
It was understood that doctors, psychologists or psychiatrists could not satisfactorily answer the question of what was going on.
The young man’s mother went to Pastor Luther Miles Schulz, who, given his experience in the Catholic Church, told her that it was a case of “devilish influence” and suggested that she visit the Catholic community in Washington.
The practice of exorcisms in the church is almost as old as religion itself: religious texts describe how Jesus himself ordered demons to leave the bodies of those they possessed.
Since 1614, the Church has been carrying out the process of expelling evil spirits from human bodies under a special procedure. (A procedure that was reviewed and revised in 1999).
A letter to Duke University’s Department of Parapsychology cites Schulze as one of the witnesses to the supernatural phenomenon that Rowland’s family was experiencing: ‘The chairs were moving with him, And one was upon him. And whenever Roland was in his bed, he would start shaking.’
Best day to take out gin’
A search for relatives of young Roland, ‘possessed by evil spirits’, led him to St. Louis, Missouri, where he came into contact with the university’s Christian community.
A priest there, Raymond Bishop, became interested in the young man’s story and took him to the university authorities, who allowed the priest to see what was happening to the boy. Bishop began recording details of his visits in a diary which was later kept by the university.
According to the writings of the priest who first witnessed the whole incident, Roland’s bed was shaking at the time, but when the priest prayed over it and made the sign of the cross with holy water, it stopped shaking.
The pastor enlisted the help of William H. Bowdern, an experienced pastor of the University Church.
According to a summary of the facts of the incident compiled by St. Louis University, Bowdern, 52, a World War II veteran with extensive teaching experience, visited Rowland two days later. During his visit, Roland received two long scratches in the shape of a cross while objects such as holy water flew from the rooms.
According to the university, the bishop and Bowdern requested the Archbishop of St. Louis to excommunicate, and church authorities approved the process.
The bishop’s diaries detail the almost two-month process carried out by the priests between March and April 1949.
As the exorcism spells continued, Roland thrashed violently, fumbling with his pillow and bed sheet. Three men had to hold Roland’s arms, legs and head. In this state of Roland, more physical strength than natural strength was revealed.
Roland spat in the faces of those who held him and prayed. He used to spit on religious images and on the hands of priests. When they sprinkled holy water on him, he trembled. He tried hard to free himself and screamed in a loud demonic voice.
St. Louis University says the procedures were carried out in different locations “in an effort to minimize the boy’s suffering.” The bishop recounted strange incidents at various locations such as: After Roland was sprinkled with holy water at the entrance to a rehabilitation center, he tried to jump into a ditch.
The bishop also says that on Easter Sunday when he was taken to University Hospital, Rowland woke up in distress while Father Bowdern continued the exorcism. In his diary he mentions a discussion between Baudern and Rowland that is worth considering.
During the exorcism, the priest Baudrin demands the demon to reveal his identity and leave the boy’s body. To this, Rowland allegedly replied in a rough and heavy voice that “He (Roland) has only one more word to say, one more word.” A small word, which is a very important word to me. He would never say that word. I will always be in it. I may not have much energy but I am always in it. He will never say that word.
The bishop says that then, a few minutes before midnight, he heard Roland speak in a different voice, saying: ‘Satan! Devil! I am Saint Michael and I command you, Satan, and other evil spirits to leave the body immediately in the name of Dominus. Already! Already! Already!
When Roland awoke, he told the priests that the archangel St. Michael had fought a great battle to save him and had won: ‘Now he is gone.’
Who was Roland Dove?
St. Louis Church officials closed the case without releasing a public statement on the matter to protect Rowland’s identity. However, in August 1949, the family’s Lutheran pastor spoke to the Washington Post, which then published the story, which eventually reached the ears of William Peter Blatty.
When this story was published, there was considerable interest in it. Both the novel and the film inspired by it were huge successes. But despite this, Rowland managed to remain anonymous.
Various authors over the years, who have investigated the incident, have identified Rowland as a man born in Maryland in 1935 who worked as an aerospace engineer for NASA.
In 2021, several media outlets in the United States claimed that the man had died shortly before reaching the age of 86 in 2020.
Although there is a lot of speculation about the events that took place in those two months of 1949, the words of its two protagonists can shed some light on it.
In his 1974 book, The Devil, Demonology and Witchcraft, historian Henry A. Kelly obtained direct testimony from Father Bowdern, who stated that he was ordered to cast out jinn directly from church authorities. He just did his job.
But Kelly explains in his book, ‘What were the signs of Rowland’s demonic possession that led the ecclesiastical authorities in St. Louis to resort to exorcism? Father Baudern’s answer was simple and straightforward: no signs of Jinn influence had been reported or observed before the process began.
According to Kelly, earlier investigations of the case were lacking and could have different explanations for events such as objects moving. Worse, the lack of medical supervision during the process casts doubt on the authenticity of the testimony in the bishop’s diaries.