Is The Pope's Exorcist based on a true story?

While the plot might sound too outlandish to be a true story, believe it or not, the film is based on real events – at least partially.

The film takes its plot from the real life of Father Gabriel Amorth, who worked as the official exorcist of the Catholic Church for decades.

But what's fiction and what's fact in the movie? Read on for everything you need to know about the true story behind The Pope's Exorcist.

The Pope's Exorcist true story: Who was the real Father Gabriele Amorth?

Father Gabriele Amorth was an ordained Roman Catholic priest who was appointed an exorcist of the Diocese of Rome in June 1986 and promoted to Chief Exorcist six years later.

His work was previously the subject of the 2017 documentary film The Devil and Father Amorth, which saw director William Friedkin travel to the Italian village of Alatri to observe Amorth performing an exorcism, and the new film is adapted from his two memoirs – An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories.

Amorth claims to have performed as many as 160,000 exorcisms throughout his career, although this claim has been disputed by some – including Edward Peters, a professor of canon law.

He passed away aged 91 in 2016, but before his death, he agreed to give producer Michael Patrick Kaczmarek the rights to his books – after previously rejecting various other offers from film studios.

"I believe I was able to succeed where other producers failed in that I was able to convince Father Amorth about my sincere religious devotion," Kaczmarek explained in the film's production notes.

"In our exchanges, I was able to convince him that if he took the chance to work with me, that I would try to make sure the Catholicity would be preserved in the film – and that he would be respected as a person along with the Church and his religious order."

The film is inspired by Amorth's books rather than a direct adaptation, and screenwriter Michael Petroni was drafted in to write an original story, with Kaczmarek explaining: "He did a great job of incorporating real Latin prayers, from the book Catholic exorcists use in their work. He brought a great level of authenticity to the script."

In short, then, the film is a fictional tale based on the memoirs of a real man – and how likely you are to believe some of the more outlandish elements depicted will likely depend entirely on your own faith.

Is San Sebastian Abbey a real place?

No, the Gothic abbey that features in the film does not exist in real life, and the film was actually filmed at Dromore Castle in Ireland.

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