Anneliese Michel: Encyclopedia - Anneliese Michel

Anneliese Michel

Anneliese Michel (September 21, 1952 – July 1, 1976) was a German woman who was believed to have been possessed by six or more demons and subsequently underwent an exorcism.

Anneliese Michel - Early life

She was born into a lower-middle class Catholic family in Leiblfing, Bavaria, a small town.

Anneliese Michel - Hospitalization

In 1968, Anneliese began suffering from seizures and was diagnosed as epileptic at the Psychiatric Clinic in Würzburg. She remained hospitalized for almost two years, and eventually began seeing demonic faces during her daily prayers. Suffering from major seizures, Anneliese returned to secondary school in the fall of 1970, was still able to go to the University of Würzburg in September 1973, where she studied Elementary Education.

In addition to the images that haunted her in the hospital, Anneliese began to hear voices. Coming from a strict Catholic background and lacking any other explanation, Anneliese began to attribute her condition to demonic possession. She grew increasingly frustrated with medical intervention as it did not seem to affect her core problems.

Anneliese Michel - Exorcism and death

By summer of 1973, her parents began to inquire of different priests if they would perform an exorcism on their daughter. They all refused. The Infestatio (proof of possession) is very specific on the criteria that must be fulfilled. Some of the crucial elements include an aversion to religious objects, speaking in languages the person never learned, and evidence of supernatural powers.

An exorcism request for Anneliese was eventually approved by the Bishop Josef Stangl of Würzburg in 1975. The exorcism, known at the time as Rituale Romanum, was assigned to Father Arnold Renz and Pastor Ernst Alt. Through the course of these often taped sessions, Anneliese presented what she claimed were six separate demons possessing her, including Lucifer, Cain, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Legion, and Belial. She also claimed to be possessed by Hitler, though the accent she used when speaking as Hitler was incorrect.

Eventually, Anneliese's knees were destroyed through obsessive genuflection. She contracted pneumonia and died at age 23 from starvation (by the time of her death, she weighed only 31 kilograms or 68 lbs). She died in Klingenberg am Main, Bavaria.

Anneliese Michel - Courtroom charges

Her parents and the exorcists — Pastor Ernst Alt and Father Arnold Renz — were brought up on charges of negligent homicide. The defense played the tapes from different sessions, sometimes featuring the supposed demons arguing, to prove that Anneliese was indeed possessed.

The prosecution countered with an argument of Doctrinaire Induction, claiming the priests gave to Anneliese the contents of her psychotic episodes. Added to the basic skepticism concerning an actual demonic possession was a recognition that the country had been thrown into a paranormal panic with the release of the movie The Exorcist two years earlier. The possibility of that influence affecting the perceptions of mentally ill patients was well documented.

Ultimately, the accused were found guilty of manslaughter resulting from negligence and were sentenced to 6 months. It was a far lighter sentence than anticipated.

Anneliese Michel - Exhumantion

On February 25, 1978, the remnants of Annaliese were exhumed. The official reason provided by her parents was that Annaliese had been buried in a really, really great hurry in a cheap coffin. Almost two years after the burial, her remnants were moved into a new coffin made of zinc.

However, among other circumstances preceding the exhumation was a statement by a catholic nun from the district of Allgaeu in southern Bavaria. The nun claimed that Annaliese had indeed appeared before her. According to the nun, the body was still occupied with supernatural forces and the remnants of Annaliese had therefore not decayed after her death. The official result of the exhumation, however, showed that the remnants had decayed naturally. The accused exorcists – Anneliese’s parents and the two priests – were never allowed to witness the remnants of Annaliese. Father Arnold Renz later claimed that he had even been prevented from entering the mortuary.

Anneliese Michel - Legacy

The courtroom case, called the Klingenberg Case, became the basis of Scott Derrickson's 2005 movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The film significantly deviates from the real world events (for example, the film is set in the United States and Anneliese was renamed Emily Rose). An upcoming German-language film called Requiem by Hans-Christian Schmid has been announced, and the individuals involved promised to stay truer to the real-life events.

Although Anneliese's exorcism was sanctioned by Bishop Josef Stangl, a commission of the German Bishops' Conference later declared that Anneliese Michel was not possessed. However, her grave remains a place of pilgrimage for those who have faith in the supernatural version of events.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Anneliese Michel", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki