The exorcist priest and the Washington Archdiocese split over remarks about UFOs.

The exorcist priest and the Washington Archdiocese

The Archdiocese of Washington fired a well-known Christian exorcist for implying that numerous reported UFO sightings might be connected to demonic activity.

Following remarks made in a recent online video, Cardinal Robert McElroy declared on June 3 that Monsignor Stephen Rossetti had been dismissed from the archdiocese as an exorcist. For 19 years, Rossetti, a priest from the Diocese of Syracuse in New York, held this position.

Additionally, the archdiocese announced that it had severed ties with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Catholic nonprofit organization headed by Rossetti in Washington.

For clergy, religious communities, and laypeople, the center offers spiritual education programs and training. The ruling comes after Rossetti talked about unidentified flying objects and their potential origins in a YouTube video that was uploaded on May 29.

He shared his personal opinion that “many, if not most, [UFO] sightings are, in fact, demons” in the video. These entities “can do things that we can’t do, such [as] the speed and all sorts of things that human beings can’t do,” he claimed.

Cardinal McElroy stated that Rossetti’s comments “gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons, and exorcism” in a statement released by the Archdiocese of Washington.

The St. Michael Center’s “recent use of social media” was also denounced by the cardinal, though no specifics were given. In response to the ruling, Rossetti expressed his “saddened” feelings about the archdiocese’s actions and acknowledged the concerns expressed.

“I apologize for any instances in which I have not adhered to the teachings of the Church’s magisterium, especially in the referenced video on ‘aliens and the demonic,'” he stated. Rossetti also thought back on his lengthy tenure in the archdiocese.

The statement went on, “I am appreciative of my 19 years of service as an exorcist in the Archdiocese of Washington and I thank the archdiocese for its support and blessing over the years.

In our prayers, we will keep the cardinal and the entire archdiocese in mind for their significant ministry. Rossetti stated that the St. Michael Center would carry on despite its split from the Archdiocese of Washington.

He stated, “The St. Michael Center intends to carry on its ministry elsewhere.”. The YouTube video that inspired the archdiocese’s decision was made private shortly after the controversy surfaced.

The decision made by the Archdiocese of Washington is an obvious attempt to disassociate itself from interpretations that it considers to be at odds with official Church doctrine.