The Archdiocese of Washington has removed Monsignor Stephen Rossetti from his role as an exorcist after comments he made linking UFO sightings to demonic activity.
In a statement released Wednesday, Cardinal Robert McElroy announced that Rossetti, a priest of the Diocese of Syracuse, New York, had been removed as an exorcist of the Archdiocese of Washington. The archdiocese also ended all affiliation with the Saint Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Washington-based nonprofit founded by Rossetti.
Cardinal McElroy said, “Statements made by Monsignor Rossetti linking UFOs to demonic presence and the Center’s recent use of social media gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.”
Rossetti is one of the most recognizable Catholic exorcists in the United States. A psychologist as well as an exorcist, he has more than 148,000 followers on Instagram. His Saint Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal has focused on spiritual healing and ministry, particularly for priests facing various difficulties.
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The controversy stemmed from a May 29 video in which Rossetti discussed UFO sightings and the possibility of alien life.
“There’s a danger here,” Rossetti said in the video. “As an exorcist, I wanted to raise that danger. And that is that demons like to hide… They don’t want us to know what they’re doing because they’re more effective when we don’t realize it.”
He added, “They can kind of get into your head, you know, and manipulate things in the world to influence us to do evil.”
Rossetti later stated, “It’s my personal belief that probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons.”
Following his removal, Rossetti issued a statement expressing regret.
“I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church’s Magisterium, particularly in the cited video on ‘aliens and the demonic,’” he said.
Rossetti added, “I believe it is of the utmost importance to be obedient to the Church and I will continue to endeavor to subject all that I do and the Center to be thus obedient.”
The decision raises questions that are unlikely to disappear anytime soon. If a veteran exorcist with decades of experience dealing with claims of demonic activity can be removed for publicly discussing a possible connection between UFO phenomena and the demonic, many will ask why the response was so swift and severe. Was this simply a matter of Church discipline, or does the Vatican fear where that conversation could ultimately lead?
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
