Washington priest removed as exorcist after linking UFOs to work of demons

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/04/washington-priest-exorcist-ufos-demons

Crossposted from https://lemmy.nz/post/38380382

165 points · 21 comments · view on lemmy.world

21 Comments

EatingOnions@lemmy.world · 30 pts · 61d (8 replies)

I don't understand American obsession with UFO, is there something behind it?

SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 45 pts · 61d (3 replies)

Mostly poor education in STEM and a massive distrust of government.

underscores@lemmy.zip · 17 pts · 61d

It's mostly because of a highly credible and stable intelligence officer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Grusch_UFO_whistleblower_claims

Essentially he was tasked with finding where funds are going and it led him to a rabbit hole of black programs

Keep in mind this doesn't mean any of the implications of the programs are true, but the programs do exist, whether their purpose is legitimate or not is the question

schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 60d

If you want an American to believe something, tell them the government says it is a hoax.

kinther@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 59d

I would encourage you to look into a recent documentary about the congressional testimony from numerous high ranking intelligence officers - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Disclosure

tl;dr Of the claims they make in the documentary, the biggest thing (to me) appears to be a massive siphoning of tax dollars into black ops programs that don't report up through the government. Whether there are actual UFO/UAP programs is up to debate.

teyrnon@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 60d (1 reply)

The confirmed, filmed sightings of UAP doing things we understand to by physically impossible are behind it yes. I refer you to the US Air Force, and their publicly released footage.

My guess, and it's a left field one, holograms.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip · -1 pts · 59d

My guess is that people's intuitive interpretation of unfamiliar phenomena can be massively wrong.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 59d

A culture that stigmatizes intelligence, mainly. "My lazy ignorance is just as good as your hard-earned knowledge."

pasdechance@jlai.lu · 0 pts · 61d
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58008@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 60d

oh no who will perform the totally real and actually effective exorcisms now??

mosspiglet@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 60d (1 reply)

We can't have our nonsense be tainted by someone spouting nonsense!

schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 59d

Honestly, I see UFO stories as just the same imaginative human instinct that brought us saints & demons. They are definitely linked.

ZeroCool@piefed.ca · 8 pts · 61d

This guy clearly hasn't finished reading all of 'Childhood's End' yet.

AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 60d

I didn't realise it was possible to be too credulous to be an exorcist.

flabbergast@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 60d

Not the right kind of supernatural?

finallymadeanaccount@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 60d

Fair enough. You just can't allow such rampant UFOism to take root in the church!

Imperious_melange@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 61d (3 replies)
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necrobius@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 60d (2 replies)

So where are his balls?

Imperious_melange@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 60d
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phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 59d

Tried looking in the Albert Hall?

GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 60d

It was my understanding that these days, exorcists were more or less glorified guidance counselors for people who are a very specific kind of religiously mentally ill.

stenAanden@feddit.dk · 3 pts · 60d

The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, on Wednesday removed a well-known priest as an exorcist of the archdiocese after he made public comments suggesting that UFO sightings were the work of demons.

The archbishop said Rossetti’s statements “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.”

“It’s my personal belief that probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons,” Rossetti added.

pasdechance@jlai.lu · 3 pts · 61d

Another "credible person"

phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 59d

Sounds like he's angling for a job with JD Vance.