The Archdiocese of Washington on Wednesday cut ties with a priest and prominent exorcist over comments he made about demons and UFOs.
Monsignor Stephen Rossetti said in a video posted on YouTube that there’s “no question” that “probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons and they can do things that we can’t.”
Rossetti added that he showed an image of a UFO to someone with “a particular gift,” who confirmed it was actually a demon.
He also warned people against interacting with so-called aliens and even supposedly “friendly” ghosts, as they were likely demons.
“Demons like to hide,” he said.
Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Rossetti made it clear that this was his “personal belief” and not an official church teaching. But the church said he had crossed a line and ended its nearly two-decade association with him.
The Archdiocese of Washington said in a news release that “statements made by Monsignor Rossetti 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.”
The archdiocese also cut ties with Rossetti’s St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal.
Rossetti, who is the author of “Diary Of An American Exorcist” and “My Confrontation With Hell,” a priest of the Diocese of Syracuse, N.Y., and has served as Catholic chaplain to the Washington Nationals, said he was saddened by the 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 wrote on the center’s website.
In addition, Rossetti said the center would continue its ministry elsewhere, but did not provide details.
The May 29 “aliens and the demonic” video has since been removed from public view, but clips have been saved on social media: