- Feb 5, 2002
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Sitka’s new Catholic priest has an unusual skill set – he’s also the official exorcist for the Catholic Church in Alaska. KCAW’s Meredith Redick sat down with Father Joseph McGilloway, a former Benedictine monk who moved to Sitka in September, to talk about his work in a ministry sensationalized by pop culture.
Meredith Redick: You have been the exorcist for the Catholic Church of Alaska for four years. How did you get into that? What motivated you to do this work?
Joseph McGilloway: Okay, so, nothing. So what happened was the then-Archbishop of Anchorage had brought a friend of his, a priest who has been an exorcist for almost 20 years to talk to us. And really, it was kind of the first time I suppose I took the ministry seriously, in the sense of, you know, the talk made sense. And so then a few weeks later, I was trying to get the book. And the book was blocked. You could only buy it with a bishop’s permission. So I asked the bishop, “Hey, would you give me a letter of permission? Or could you order it for me and I’ll pay for it or whatever?” And he said, “Leave that until I see you.” So a few weeks later, I met him at a mutual friend’s house for dinner. And as we were leaving the house, I said, “Oh, by the way, did you think about whether or not I could have that book?” He said, “Yeah, you’re gonna be the exorcist. Bye!” And he jumped in his car and drove off. I’m like, “What?” and he’s got a big smile on his face. And he waved at me and drove off. So that’s how I became the exorcist. Yeah.
MR: What do you see as the role of this particular ministry?
Continued below.
alaskapublic.org
Meredith Redick: You have been the exorcist for the Catholic Church of Alaska for four years. How did you get into that? What motivated you to do this work?
Joseph McGilloway: Okay, so, nothing. So what happened was the then-Archbishop of Anchorage had brought a friend of his, a priest who has been an exorcist for almost 20 years to talk to us. And really, it was kind of the first time I suppose I took the ministry seriously, in the sense of, you know, the talk made sense. And so then a few weeks later, I was trying to get the book. And the book was blocked. You could only buy it with a bishop’s permission. So I asked the bishop, “Hey, would you give me a letter of permission? Or could you order it for me and I’ll pay for it or whatever?” And he said, “Leave that until I see you.” So a few weeks later, I met him at a mutual friend’s house for dinner. And as we were leaving the house, I said, “Oh, by the way, did you think about whether or not I could have that book?” He said, “Yeah, you’re gonna be the exorcist. Bye!” And he jumped in his car and drove off. I’m like, “What?” and he’s got a big smile on his face. And he waved at me and drove off. So that’s how I became the exorcist. Yeah.
MR: What do you see as the role of this particular ministry?
Continued below.
A conversation with Alaska’s exorcist
KCAW’s Meredith Redick sat down with Father Joseph McGilloway, the official exorcist for the Catholic Church in Alaska, to talk about his work.
alaskapublic.org
