Washington Archbishop Cardinal Robert McElroy has removed Monsignor Stephen Rossetti as an exorcist for the archdiocese and cut ties with his ministry at the St. Michael Center after the priest publicly warned that many supposed UFO incidents are actually sightings of demonic activity.
The cardinal said Monsignor Stephen Rossetti’s statements linking UFOs to demons, and the St. Michael Center’s recent social media use, “gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.”
Monsignor Rossetti, a priest of the Diocese of Syracuse, New York, mentioned his personal conviction about alien activity in a video he posted on Facebook May 29.
“There’s no question in my mind, personally — again, this is not de fide — but it’s my personal belief — that probably many, if not most, of these UFO sightings are, in fact, demons,” he said in the video.
Rossetti, a psychologist with extensive experience in exorcism ministry and a significant social media following, also said that demons “don’t want us to know what they’re doing because they’re more effective when we don’t realize it.”
Rossetti quickly pledged his obedience after the cardinal’s decision and thanked the archdiocese for his 19 years of service as an exorcist there.
He asked forgiveness for any ways in which he may not have been faithful to the Church’s magisterium, particularly in the video on “aliens and the demonic.” He also indicated the center would continue its ministry elsewhere.
“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 added.
As of June 3, the video cited by Church officials had been set to private.