Italian Exorcist: “The Devil truly fears Medjugorje”
From Aleteia.org (translated from Italian)
The devil and Medjugorje.
Father Leonardi says he never suffered any “joke” from the devil. «God defends his ministers. Once, however, even though I knew that the man was … dangerous, I made him welcome, since he wished to mark a mass.
I introduced him to the sacristy. At the same time I felt the desire to provoke him: I only pronounced the name of Medjugorje . He gritted his teeth for a long time! Then, when we were again at the altar where the tabernacle is.
The Marche Capuchin Giovanni Maria Leonardi was an activist of Renewal in the Spirit. And he has met the devil on several occasions Giovanni Maria Leonardi is an 82 year old Capuchin priest.
Born in Pesaro, he entered the Capuchin novitiate in Camerino (MC) at the age of fifteen, for several years he was a regional manager of the Spirit Renewal groups. But Father Leonardi was also a well-known exorcist .
In ” How the prayer of liberation is done” (Segno editions) , the author Don Marcello Stanzione interviews him. “My ministry as an exorcist has been rather peculiar.
Since I was, in those years, responsible for the groups of the Renewal in the Spirit of the Marches and special cases happened to me, several times I personally presented myself to some bishops of the region, expressing myself more or less like this: “ You are in possession of the weapons to fight the enemy. I ask you. I want to be … armed and defended “».
The ministry of exorcist
The bishops most attentive to the ministry of the exorcist, “normally granted me this position. However, I didn’t let anyone know about it. At the right time, however, I could act with that authority that had been given to me by the Pastors of the Church. During that time I participated in various meetings of exorcists, both nationally and internationally.
They were the first conferences organized by some exorcists. It was in the eighties and nineties, therefore before the Great Jubilee of the year 2000. It was still necessary to choose an international exorcist leader who would officially represent us before the whole Church “.
The assignment to Father Amorth
During an assembly, says the priest, “we asked Fr. Gabriele Amorth who accepted this assignment. At first he was unwilling to accept.
But when he himself documented that there was only one exorcist in charge throughout France and that he did not even believe … the existence of the devil, I dared to intervene by observing that, if he did not accept, his exorcist from France would probably have been elected. He accepted immediately ».
The charisma of Father La Grua
Later, continues Father Leonardi, “I met Fr. Matteo La Grua, Conventual father of Palermo, rich in doctrine and charisms. He called me amiably friend. I invited him several times to the Marche.
At our seminary in Macerata, at our request, he held a weekend, very useful for the laity, on the subject of the Liberation Prayer. Following his teaching, I myself wrote two booklets of 36 pages each for the Renewal in the Spirit groups: one on the Prayer of Liberation and the other on the Prayer of Healing. Both booklets were highly praised by him. “
Episodes of diabolical presence
Before the great Jubilee of the year 2000, “when Don Dino Foglio still organized meetings for young people of the Renewal at Idio (Brescia) in the summer”, the priest from the Marches exercised the exorcist ministry in one of those gatherings.
«I remember well that girl (I haven’t forgotten her name to date) who crashed on the floor in the middle of the assembly. It seemed that, due to the violence of the fall, her head broke. Instead nothing!
A man who, unduly, had joined our small group for the prayer of liberation, suddenly felt invaded by the devil: the spirit of evil had passed from her to him . Terrified, the man screamed in fright. Humiliated in his presumption, he was soon freed from the merciful hand of God ».
Singing to the Lord
Another time, during a prayer meeting, «the enemy was unleashed with evident signs towards a woman. Everyone was frightened.
Calmly I asked those present not to leave. On the contrary, I proposed to immediately raise the song in tongues to the Lord. That poor woman, possessed, slowly collapsed on the ground as exhausted ».
The devil and Medjugorje.
Father Leonardi says he never suffered any “joke” from the devil. «God defends his ministers. Once, however, even though I knew that the man was … dangerous, I made him welcome, since he wished to mark a mass.
I introduced him to the sacristy. At the same time I felt the desire to provoke him: I only pronounced the name of Medjugorje . He gritted his teeth for a long time! Then, when we were again at the altar where the tabernacle is, I wanted to greet him by simply tracing the sign of the cross on him. As soon as I raised my hand, the spirit of evil was unleashed. “
“Thank God,” recalls the exorcist, “between me and that possessed man he created himself as a barrier. With violence that possessed by the devil, he tried to reach me, but he could not. I had the feeling that he was scratching an unbreakable glass plate. Then, exhausted, he collapsed on the ground . “
Who does not believe in the devil
Finally, the priest tells Don Marcello Stanzione that “whoever does not believe in the existence of the devil, not only does not believe in Jesus and his Gospel, but does not have the right perception of reality, which – he explains – is often still under the domain of the prince of evil. “
