WASHINGTON (TNND) — Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., removed Monsignor Stephen Rossetti as an exorcist after the priest said that he personally believed that “probably many” UFOs are demons.
McElroy said in a statement Wednesday that Rossetti was being removed as an exorcist and that the archdiocese was severing its connection with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal that the priest leads, which offers prayers and social media posts geared toward more charismatic Catholics, the Washington Post reported.
The archbishop cited statements Rossetti made about UFOs, saying that they “gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.”
The archdiocese did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.
Rossetti appeared on the YouTube show “Faith, Hope and Love Ministry” on Monday to discuss “Aliens or Demons?”
Demons “like to hide,” Rossetti said. “They don’t want us to know what they’re doing because they’re more effective when we don’t realize it.”
“Demons can break into the physical world,” he continued, and take the shape of shadows, possessed houses, or “ghosts” that someone might connect with through a medium.
“All that connect us with the dark world is a portal. And the Bible and the church warns us against this,” Rossetti said. “There’s no question in my mind, personally that probably many, if not most, of these UFO sightings are demons. And they can do things we can’t do, thus the speed.”
Rossetti did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.
On the St. Michael Center’s site, Rossetti said he was “saddened” about his removal but that the center would continue its work elsewhere.
“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,” Rossetti wrote. He said that he has been an archdiocesan exorcist for 19 years.
Rossetti is also a psychologist. While leading the St. Luke Institute in Silver Spring, Md., from 1993 to 2009, he treated clergy with mental health issues, including priests accused of sexually abusing adults and children.
He is listed as a professor at the Catholic University of America and has served as the Washington Nationals’ chaplain.
Rossetti is not the only Catholic who believes UFOs are demons.
Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, told “The Benny Show” podcast in April that he did not believe UFOs were aliens.
“I think they’re demons anyway, but that’s a longer discussion,” Vance said.
Rossetti told the Associated Press in 2023 that there was a growing appetite for information about demonic possession and exorcisms. He said that “demonic influences” have increased amid declining faith and as people practice the occult.