The Discovery Channel will be debuting a reality series this spring that explores and recreates past cases of exorcism. Here’s the twist: They’ve gotten the cooperation of the Vatican to do so.
The Exorcist Files will recreate stories of real-life hauntings and demonic possession, based on cases investigated by the Catholic Church. The project includes access into the Vatican’s case files, as well as interviews with the organization’s top exorcists — religious experts who are rarely seen on television.
“The Vatican is an extraordinarily hard place to get access to, but we explained we’re not going to try to tell people what to think,” says Discovery president and GM Clark Bunting.
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
Sign up to get Crisis articles delivered to your inbox daily
Bunting says the investigators believe a demon can inhabit an inanimate object (like a home) or a person. The network executive says he was initially skeptical when first meeting the team but was won over after more than three hours of talks.
We’ll see how this turns out. If producers are able to reign in the sensationalism — remember, this is the Discovery Channel — they might have something good.