The Jesuit Back Story Of The Exorcist

Fr. William Bowdern, S.J.

The 1949 case of Roland Doe, in St. Louis, involved Jesuits at Saint Louis University but also required the approval of the Archdiocese of St. Louis at that time, Joseph Ritter. The exorcism performed on the 13-year-old boy in St. Louis, a child referred to as "Robbie" in most accounts, happened primarily in three locations: at the boy's relative's home in North St. Louis County, at the rectory behind the College Church on the campus, and at a now-demolished wing of the old Alexian Brothers Hospital in South St. Louis. Both the rectory behind the college church and the psychiatric ward at Alexian Brothers are no longer standing. Even so, SLU students throughout the years insist there are mysterious locked rooms on campus at DuBourg Hall and Verhagen Hall that were used to free the boy from the grip of Satan. "It's just not true," says David Waide, SLU archivist.

One location where some of the exorcism happened is still standing. The home of the boy's relatives in north St. Louis County. Thursday morning on Today in St. Louis, you will hear from the next door neighbors of that home. One of those neighbors, who sleeps with Holy Water near her bed, has a connection to the story that dates all the way back to 1949.

Read a priest's day-by-day diary of the SLU exorcism.
SLU expert talks about exorcism on campus
What became of the boy in the exorcism?
Link (here) to read the full story