Priest involved with St. Louis exorcism dies

I saw this on the news this morning as I was getting ready for work.

The Rev. Walter H. Halloran was a handsome and athletic Jesuit scholastic in his 20s when he found himself part of a religious experience that would spawn a series of books, movies and documentaries and fascinate people for generations.

You've probably heard of "The Exorcist." Father Halloran, who died Tuesday (March 1, 2005) at 83, was the last living Jesuit to be involved in an exorcism that took place in 1949 at a psychiatric unit in St. Louis. The incident provided the inspiration for William Peter Blatty's 1971 runaway bestseller by that name, which led to the hit movie, and a few more of lesser box office appeal, including a recent prequel.

Father Halloran died at a Jesuit retirement home in Wauwatosa, Wis., a Milwaukee suburb. But he spent many years in St. Louis from the 1940s and on into the 1970s. He was just 27 and a history student at St. Louis University when he was summoned to the psychiatric wing at Alexian Brothers Hospital, 3933 South Broadway.

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