A Saintly Exorcist: Father Candido Amantini C.P.

08-17-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Leonard F. Villa

Guest article by Elmar Lübbers-Paal kath.net (edited) https://kath.net/news/88005

In the Catholic Church, only an exorcist may perform a "major exorcism" if he receives the order from the diocesan bishop and has previously examined whether the person concerned is suffering from a mental illness. If this ecclesiastical service is performed, it is performed in secret, as it is often met with incomprehension.

At the age of 12, Eraldo Ulisse Mauro Amantini, born on January 31, 1914, in Bagnolo (Tuscany), entered the Passionist seminary for boys in Nettuno (a pilgrimage site of St. Maria Goretti). The young religious professed his perpetual vows in 1933. Three years later, he was ordained a deacon in the Lateran Basilica, (the Pope’s Cathedral Church) before receiving holy ordination to the priesthood on March 13, 1937, at just 23 years of age.

Candido of the Immaculate Conception, his religious name, delved deeper into the Passion of Christ, which his order's founder, Saint Paul of the Cross, had already contemplated: "Everything lies in the Passion: it is the greatest and most wonderful work of divine love." He sought to bring this love to the "crucified" of his time. He acquired the education he still lacked. He was considered not only an excellent linguist in Greek, Hebrew, German, and Sanskrit, but also a biblical scholar and moral theologian. Until 1960, he taught students primarily in Hebrew and biblical studies. His encounters with Padre Pio also occurred during this period. The stigmatized Capuchin priest said of Candido that he was "a priest after God's own heart."

The Passionist priest found his final pastoral assignment in the monastery at the "Scala Sancta" ("Holy Stairs," Rome). The church contains the 28-step staircase from King Herod's Praetorium, which Christ ascended and descended several times. Empress Helena had it brought to Rome from the Holy Land, along with other Passion relics. Candido's charismatic and winning manner certainly has its origins in his profound prayer. The Rosary is his source of strength. More and more people chose him as their spiritual director and confessor. The faithful knew that the priest possessed the gifts of prophecy and the ability to read the heart. This allowed him to immediately identify, from the crowd waiting outside the sacristy door, those two or three people who are most in need of his help. He devoted himself to these people in detail, while leaving miracle-seeking and superstitious people waiting.

For Candido, it's important that the person seeking help truly seeks God as the healer of their soul. Fellow priests note that this compassionate priest got up in the middle of the night for Eucharistic adoration in the chapel. In doing so, he surrendered the dark side of his penitents to the Bodily Presence of the Lord. Candido thus made himself an "open channel for God's mercy." The Mother of God is his great supporter in his special apostolate as an exorcist. This is probably also because many of his patients have experienced great help in Loreto and Lourdes. Candido also made several pilgrimages to the French Marian shrine. In his book on "The Mystery of Mary" (1971), he writes: "The Blessed Virgin is the first to rescue us from the devil's tyranny over the world." Father Candido constantly proclaimed the immeasurable love that God has for his creatures. He himself led a life of penance to put this message into practice. He repeatedly offered his life to God as atonement for others. He spent many hours of his day in the confessional. He exhorted his fellow brothers to always treat their penitents with understanding and consideration, thus bearing witness to their fatherly goodness. Through exorcism, he aimed to restore the hearts of the possessed to the freedom of the children of God.

The blessing Father Candido gave to his faithful: May the Lord Jesus always be with you. He goes before you to guide you, He is behind you to protect you, He dwells within you to preserve you, He is above you to enlighten you. Amen.