Archdiocese of Washington removes prominent exorcist over remarks linking UFOs to demonic activity

Washington Archbishop Cardinal Robert McElroy on June 3 removed a prominent priest from his role as an archdiocesan exorcist after the priest made remarks linking UFOs to demonic activity.

Monsignor Stephen Rossetti was “removed … as an exorcist of the Archdiocese of Washington,” McElroy said in a statement posted to the archdioceseʼs website. Rossetti is a priest of the Diocese of Syracuse, New York, the statement noted.

In addition to Rossettiʼs removal, McElroy said the archdiocese had “ended all affiliation between the archdiocese and the Saint Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal located in Washington, D.C.”

Led by Rossetti, the St. Michael Center is a Catholic nonprofit that “conducts spiritual education workshops and trains clergy, religious, and laity,” according to its website.

Rossetti had on May 29 posted a video to YouTube in which the exorcist had expressed his personal belief that “many, if not most, [UFO] sightings are, in fact, demons.” Such entities, he said in the video, “can do things that we canʼt do, such [as] the speed and all sorts of things that human beings canʼt do.”

McElroy in his statement said Rossettiʼs remarks “gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.” The cardinal also criticized the St. Michael Centerʼs “recent use of social media,” though the statement did not offer any specifics beyond that.

In a statement after the news broke, Rossetti said he was “saddened” by the archdioceseʼs decision.

“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.

“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,” he continued, adding: “Also, I will continue to encourage all to do so as well.”

“I am grateful for 19 years of ministering in the Archdiocese of Washington as its exorcist and I thank the Archdiocese for its support and blessing all these years,” the statement continued. “We will remember the Cardinal and all in [the archdiocese] in our prayers for its important ministry.”

The St. Michael Center “plans to continue its ministry elsewhere,” Rossetti said.

As of June 3, the video that apparently resulted in Rossettiʼs dismissal had been marked private on YouTube.