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In this file photo, Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti, then a clinical associate professor at The Catholic University of America in Washington, talks during a press conference in Rome Feb. 7, 2012. Msgr. Rossetti was attending a four-day symposium, "Toward Healing and Renewal," at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. On June 3, 2026, Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy removed Msgr. Rossetti, a well known exorcist priest with an active social media following, from ministry within the archdiocese and has ended all affiliation between the archdiocese and the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal located in Washington. (OSV News photo/Tony Gentile, Reuters)

Cardinal McElroy removes priest from exorcism ministry over UFO, demon comments on social media


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OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, World News

(OSV News) — Cardinal Robert W. McElroy has removed a priest from his exorcism ministry in the Archdiocese of Washington, citing concerns over the cleric’s recent social media statements “linking UFOs to demonic presence.”

In a brief statement issued June 3, the cardinal said that Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, a priest of the Diocese of Syracuse, New York, can no longer exercise his ministry as an exorcist of the archdiocese.

In addition, Cardinal McElroy said he had “ended all affiliation between the archdiocese and the Saint Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal located in Washington, D.C.”

The cardinal said that the connection Msgr. Rossetti drew between UFOs and demons, and the St. Michael Center’s “recent use of social media,” both “gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.”

The Archdiocese of Washington declined to elaborate further in response to a request for comment by OSV News.

In a June 3 response posted to the center’s website, Msgr. Rossetti said he was “saddened by the decision of the Archdiocese of Washington.”

Referencing a May 29 video he had posted on his Facebook account — in which he mused as to whether aliens are real or demons, stating he personally believed the latter — Msgr. Rossetti said in his June 3 message, “I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church’s Magisterium.”

“I believe it is of the utmost importance to be obedient to the Church and I will continue to endeavor to subject all that I do and the Center to be thus obedient,” he said in his response. 

“I will continue to encourage all to do so as well,” the priest said. Referring to a symbol of unity with the Catholic Church, he added, “As I often say: ‘Stay in the Boat!’, that is, stay in the barque of Peter, it will lead you safely home.”

He added that he was “grateful for 19 years of ministering in the Archdiocese of Washington as its exorcist,” and he thanked the archdiocese “for its support and blessing all these years.”

Msgr. Rossetti pledged to remember Cardinal McElroy and the archdiocese in the St. Michael Center’s prayers, with the center planning “to continue its ministry elsewhere.” 

The nonprofit center — founded by Msgr. Rossetti, who leads it along with a deacon and two laywomen — “prays with people who are spiritually suffering and in need of healing and deliverance,” while conducting “spiritual education workshops” to train clergy, religious and laity, according to its website.

The organization — which offers “exorcism sessions and monthly deliverance sessions free of charge” — states on its website that it is “under the pastoral leadership” of the Washington Archdiocese and is “recognized” by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

The website says the ministry is listed in the Official Catholic Directory, which includes all U.S. Catholic entities recognized as tax-exempt under an IRS group ruling granted to the USCCB.

In his May 29 video, Msgr. Rossetti said the topic of aliens and demons is “very much in the news today and on people’s minds.”

On May 8, the U.S. Department of Defense (sometimes referenced as the Department of War) released the first tranche of historical files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), previously called UFOs — a term coined in the 1950s by Captain Edward Ruppelt, who led the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book to investigate reports of such occurrences.

A second tranche of UAP records was released by the federal government on May 22, with the two releases sparking media coverage and a flurry of popular discussion. 

In his video, Msgr. Rossetti said there “could be” aliens, adding, “We don’t know. The Church has said there’s nothing incompatible with the faith about believing that there’s life on other planets. So, sure, you could believe that and be a good Catholic.”

He said, “I personally don’t think there is,” adding, “But there’s a danger here and I want to raise that as an exorcist. I wanted to raise that danger, and that is that demons like to hide. They don’t want us to know they’re around. They don’t want us to know what they’re doing, because they’re more effective when we don’t realize it.”

The priest warned that demons — defined in Catholic teaching as fallen angels, who radically and irrevocably chose to reject God — “can kind of get into your head” and “manipulate things in the world to influence us to do evil.”

Qualifying that he was not speaking “de fide” (a Latin term indicating a definitive article of Catholic faith), Msgr. Rossetti said, “It’s my personal belief that probably many, if not most, of these UFO sightings are in fact demons, and they can do things that we can’t do — thus the speed and all sorts of things” that “human beings can’t do.”

He said, “The reason why it’s important is because they will try to manipulate us again, as I said, behind the scenes.” 

Saying “the Scriptures are very clear,” Msgr. Rossetti quoted Ephesians 6:12-13: “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, powers and rulers of this present darkness with evil spirits. So put on the armor of God that you may be able to resist on the evil day.”

The Catholic Church has no defined position on the possible existence of extraterrestrial life, which has been a subject of theological speculation and debate over time.

The Church regards Satan and demons, who were created by God as good prior to their fall, as subject to God’s omnipotence, with their existence permitted by the Lord as part of his mysterious design and for his greater glory.

At the same time, the Church has stressed that the existence of sentient evil beings does not preclude man’s free will. 

In addition, the Church specifies that major exorcisms — as distinct from the simple exorcism that is part of the sacrament of baptism — can only be performed by a priest explicitly designated by the local bishop, and with the bishop’s “special and express permission.” 

A thorough physical and psychological or psychiatric evaluation is required before a major exorcism can be performed.

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