When award-winning actor Al Pacino began preparing for his latest role as a Catholic priest who performs an exorcism, he turned to a real priest for guidance.
“Al asked a question particularly involving … why God would allow someone to suffer in this way,” Father Aaron Williams, rector of St. Mary Basilica in Natchez, Mississippi, says in an interview promoting the upcoming film, “The Ritual,” starring Pacino. “Those are important questions that priests have to wrestle with.”
Father Williams spoke with Our Sunday Visitor about this question and more after consulting on set during the filming of “The Ritual,” which hits theaters June 6. Based on true events, the movie tells the story of the well-documented exorcism of Emma Schmidt, also known as “Anna Ecklund,” that took place in Earling, Iowa, in 1928. Directed by David Midell, the film boasts an all-star cast that includes Pacino, Dan Stevens, Ashley Greene, Abigail Cowen and Patricia Heaton.
The trailer, which was released at the end of March, already boasts more than one million views.
On the film’s website, interested viewers can learn more about the true story. The website links to a famous pamphlet written by a priest containing eyewitness accounts of Schmidt’s exorcism (the 1973 film “The Exorcist” and the book that inspired it were partially based on this same pamphlet). It also provides photos of Schmidt and the priests involved in the exorcism, Father Theophilus Riesinger, O.F.M. Cap., and Father Joseph Steiger, a pastor.
The website also includes articles about the exorcism from newspapers and Time magazine and links to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ online page about exorcism and the Archdiocese of Washington’s procedures for requesting an exorcism.
A conversation with Pacino
While the exorcism happened in Iowa, the actual filming took place at Father Williams’ historic basilica in Natchez, which dates back to 1842. He spoke about how, early on in production, he met with the major actors of the film in his dining room. There, he answered questions from the cast, including Pacino, who plays Father Riesinger.
“I expected the questions would be a lot more performative, how do you do this gesture, that kind of thing,” he said. But with Pacino’s questions, he “got a sense he was trying to get an idea of the mentality of his character.”
During that conversation, Father Williams pointed to the Bible.
“I talked a bit about some of the miracles that we see Jesus working in the Gospels — and why was this person allowed to be possessed or why was this person born blind or born deaf,” he said. “In some way, God is permitting these sufferings to occur so that he can manifest his power and his grace ultimately, which is to bring us to salvation or to bring us to faith in him.”
He made an example of Dan Stevens’ character, Father Steigler, who wrestles with his identity as a priest in the film.
“There’s this great line in the movie — it’s one of my favorite lines in the whole film — where Dan wants to sort of give up,” he said. “Al (as Father Riesinger) says, ‘Father, you’re not a spectator. You’re a priest.'”
Father Williams added that “there’s a power to the priesthood.”
“Our Lord has entrusted this power unto his Church, but he hasn’t entrusted it so that we can go out and be magicians,” he said. “He’s done it ultimately so that we can experience his power, his mercy, his grace, so that everyone can come to faith in him.”
He also said Pacino asked him about the mentality of a priest when he walks in the room. Father Williams answered that too: “The priest has to have the mind that Christ is already victorious. We’re just awaiting the moment that his victory will be manifested to us in this instance.”
His guidance didn’t end there. Throughout filming, Father Williams engaged in deep conversations about the Faith.
“A lot of the members of the crew are not Catholic and many of them (were) probably not even church going,” he said. “But a lot of them would come to Mass on Sunday, and so we ended (up) having some great conversations.”
A Catholic consultant
The filming took place at Saint Mary Basilica with the support of both Father Williams and the Diocese of Jackson, which houses the basilica.
“When I first heard the idea of an exorcism film, I was a little cautious because a lot of these films are kind of overblown,” Father Williams said. “It’s not something I wanted to bring attention to the parish if I didn’t think it was going to be as accurate as it could be.”
The more he learned about the movie’s approach, the more open he became to the idea of filming at the basilica.
“I was impressed by the approach the production team wanted to take with this because they were very interested in accuracy — and not just involving the exorcism itself, but in all sorts of aspects of the ecclesial life,” Father Williams said.
Along the way, he became involved in consulting with the film. While he is not an exorcist, Father Williams has a background in liturgy and is familiar with the rite. He helped with all kinds of details in the script. He assisted the filmmakers in finding appropriate Mass readings and corrected Latin translations. He also blessed the set several times.
At another point, he offered his cassock to Stevens, who plays Father Steigler, after Stevens noticed that Father Williams’ cassock was nicer than his costume cassock. It worked out perfectly: They are the same height.
He said he only made one request of the filmmakers: That they include two of his servers when filming a Mass scene.
“I picked two boys here, some of my best servers, and they came and served,” he said.
A special message
Father Williams shared what he hoped viewers would realize about Catholicism and exorcisms after seeing the film.
“What I hope people can see from this is one — because it’s portrayed pretty accurately — I hope they realize, this is a reality,” he said. “Evil exists.”
But, he added, “at the end of the day, God is more powerful than all of that.”
Father Williams said that, at first, he was nervous to see how the finished film turned out. But he approved of it: He was glad that it happened and that the basilica was involved. Even from the beginning, he said, the production team understood that the church was not just a set but a sacred place.
“As a priest and someone who was very involved,” he said, “I think they did a good job.”
