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Exorcisms are not a thing of the past. The Catholic clergy of today are studying and applying how to rid someone of demonic possession. “The Rite” walks us through Father Gary’s training in Rome on how to identify a possessed person and perform exorcisms where necessary.

The author is clearly passionate about the topic and this comes through in his writing, which he does well. Baglio does spend some time on scientific reasoning and possible explanations, which I greatly appreciated. If you are looking for a serious account on this topic, “The Rite” is a quick, easy, and enjoyable read.

I am rating this five stars because of its usefulness and original content. I found the book didn't move very quickly when it started off and I began to wonder if our subject would ever truly become an exorcist. Although, for me, this wasn't particularly a page turner at first, once it took off it was hard to put down. Also, it presents things that even the most harsh critic would be hard put to dismiss. I learned a tremendous amount about exorcism in this book as well as demons. For those of rational and logical bent it also has various psychological and scientific attempts to explain the phenomena. I found some things too far beyond the pale to be logically explained away. For example, when flushing out frauds the exorcist, knowing that demons speak all languages, will do the exorcism in a language unknown to the person being exorcised. Sometimes they will read poetry and literature in those languages. If a person reacts violently to poetry they are a fraud. A demon will react only to the parts that are the actual rite to exorcise them. Are demons real? You be the judge. If you read, The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, and are sure demons don't exist, you will be a little less sure. This book is unique and fills a niche not filled by the numerous books on demons.

What can I say other than this is one of the best books I have ever read. Thank you Matt for sharing your experience with the rest of us. You have answered many questions about exorcism itself and what a priest has to go through to be one. What an incredible journey and I never once found the book boring. I hope you are going to write a follow up and give us even more information about the things you have learned.

The devil enjoys a prominent place in popular culture--or does he? Enjoy it, I mean.

The Catholic Church, on the other hand, hardly gets much positive press these days, although much of the negative coverage has been self-inflicted (witness the pedophile scandal). As Richard Alleva suggests in his Commonweal review of the recent movie adaptation of this book (March 11, 2011), where the Church does get to buff its public halo just a bit is in the genre of exorcist movies, especially the granddaddy of them all, "The Exorcist."

The thing is, does the devil exist? It's kind of an embarrassing question for many modern-day Catholics who like to have an enlightened view of their religion. Can we really believe that fallen angels--and not even complete angels, really, since angels are supposed to have bodies, but evil spirits--inhabit the bodies of some particularly vulnerable people? Isn't the demonstration of possession simply a manifestation of some variety of mental illness like schizophrenia? Isn't exorcism just a form of quackery, a kind of magic that deprives the patient of psychiatric care?

One wants THE RITE: THE MAKING OF A MODERN EXORCIST, a breezy non-fiction book by the journalist Matt Baglio, to get right to the point and address that singular issue: Are you real, Mr. Satan? The book is an engaging read, but Baglio ultimately doesn't really answer the question, and maybe he doesn't want to.

Okay, bottom line for Catholics: the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as it turns out, is very explicit in identifying the devil as a person: "evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a person, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God. The devil (dia-bolos) is the one who `throws himself across' God's plan and his work of salvation accomplished in Christ" (2851). Still, one suspects that a good number of otherwise devout Catholics find this hard to accept. Indeed, even among the priests to whom Baglio refers as being ill at ease with the matter of exorcism there are as likely those who are uncomfortable with the personhood of Satan as there are those who don't want to deal with a ritualistic experience so unnerving.

THE RITE is centered about the experiences of a young California parish priest, Father Gary, who is selected by his bishop to be the diocesan exorcist, and is sent to Rome for training. The book follows Father Gary as he deals with the more mundane aspects of his days in Rome, like trying to find an interpreter for his class. Eventually, Father Gary manages to set up an internship with a Franciscan friar and exorcist. His experiences under Father Carmine at San Lorenzo in Rome convince him that possession is real and that exorcism is a much needed ministry. His bishop is somewhat surprised at Father Gary's exuberant embracing of exorcism, but gives him his full support.

Baglio alternates between the narrative of Father Gary's life in Rome and back in California, and discussions of the theological underpinnings of belief in the devil and of exorcism and, to some extent, of modern scientific views of the phenomena. (There's also a chapter that tells the story of a bad hiking fall that Father Gary suffered; however interesting, it's not entirely clear to me why that chapter is in the book.) In a postscript, Baglio notes that his faith grew stronger as a result of this book project.

That brings us back to the central issue. Was what Baglio witnessed real? Is possession real? Does exorcism make sense in the twenty-first century? In the end, it may be impossible to determine scientifically that a person's experience of possession is all in the mind. It may be that, after all, the personhood of Satan, like the existence of God, is a matter of faith and of acceptance of religious dogma.

(I read this book on a Kindle, which I enjoyed; however, the Kindle version includes a number of typographical problems, especially in the notes.)

Wow, outstanding book. It was fascinating and intellectually stimulating. The writing was tight and flowed well. The footnotes were extensive and the whole book was well researched. Baglio avoided hysteria and worked to strike a balance between the believer and skeptic. He is open about his Catholic faith, and certainly writes from that point of view, but he seems to be way more open to rational, science based explanations for all but the rare and extreme disturbances. I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about this topic but wants to avoid the religious extremist who see the devil behind every bush and causing every sin of man, and the skeptical extremist who has abandoned all intellectual curiosity and becomes angry at any point of view which looks to religion for answers to some questions. I gave it 5 stars because it wouldn't let me give it more.