Cardinal Robert McElroy, the Catholic archbishop serving Washington, D.C., announced Wednesday his decision to dismiss a prominent priest from exorcist duties following controversial public statements connecting UFO encounters to demonic forces.
The archbishop also announced the archdiocese would end its relationship with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Washington nonprofit organization led by Monsignor Stephen Rossetti.
According to McElroy, Rossetti’s public remarks “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.”
In a Facebook video posted May 29 discussing UFO encounters and potential extraterrestrial life, Rossetti warned of spiritual dangers. “There’s a danger here,” Rossetti stated in the video. “As an exorcist I wanted to raise that danger. And that is that demons like to hide. … They don’t want us to know what they’re doing because they’re more effective when we don’t realize it.”
“They can kind of get into your head, you know, and manipulate things in the world to influence us to do evil,” he continued.
“It’s my personal belief that probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons,” Rossetti added.
The priest did acknowledge that Catholics could maintain their faith while believing in extraterrestrial life, though he personally doubts life exists beyond Earth.
Responding through a statement on his center’s website, Rossetti expressed disappointment with the archdiocese’s 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 stated. “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.”
The dismissed priest, who maintains more than 148,000 Instagram followers, works as both a psychologist and exorcist. His organization focuses on providing spiritual support to clergy facing personal challenges.
Last year, Rossetti spoke with The Associated Press about growing public interest in demonic possession and exorcism practices.
