Edward Hughes (exorcist)

Father Edward Albert Hughes (August 28, 1918 - October 12, 1980) was a Roman Catholic priest who served as an assistant pastor from June 16, 1948 to June 18, 1960 at St. James Church in Mt. Rainier, Maryland. He was best known for his participation in the Exorcism of Roland Doe.

Edward Albert Hughes

Life

Main article: Exorcism of Roland Doe

Hughes participated in an exorcism in 1949 at the Georgetown University Hospital on an anonymous thirteen-year-old boy, where he was allegedly injured when the boy broke out of his restraints. ^[1][2]

William Peter Blatty was inspired by a newspaper article about this case to write his novel The Exorcist.^[3][4]

In 1973, Father Hughes returned to St. James Church and later became pastor at St Matthias until his death of a heart attack on October 12, 1980.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. Opasnick, Mark. "The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired "The Exorcist"". Strange Magazine #20. Retrieved 2014-09-25.
2. Thomas B. Allen (11 November 2013), Possessed: The True Story of an Exorcism, BookCountry, ISBN 978-1-4630-0367-8
3. Washington Times, "Writers exorcise fiction from tale of demon possession, `Exorcist' based on saga of PG boy," October 12, 2000.
4. Los Angeles Times, "Metamorphosis of 'The Exorcist'," Robert R. Kirsch, July 29, 1974, page E8.