Gassner Johann Joseph
Gassner, Johann Joseph
Priest and celebrated exorcist, born Braz, Austria, 1727; died Pondorf, 1779. When his physicians had failed to restore his health, he applied exorcism and was cured. Convinced that certain maladies were caused by the evil spirit, he utilized the procedure on others with wonderful success. The fame of these cures caused him to be invited to the Diocese of Constance, to Ratisbon, and elsewhere, and everywhere he obtained similar results. He worked openly in the presence of Catholics, Protestants, scientists, and ecclesiastics, following everywhere the directions of the Church ritual. Official records of his cures were made, and the commissions appointed by Ingolstadt University and the imperial government approved of his procedure.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Gassner, Johann Joseph
A celebrated exorcist; b. 22 Aug., 1727, at Braz, Vorarlberg, Austria; d. 4 April, 1779, at Pondorf, on the Danube (Diocese of Ratisbon); studied at Prague and Innsbruck; ordained priest, 1750, and after serving various missions, became parish priest and dean of Pondorf May, 1776. A few years after his appointment to Klosterle in the Diocese of Chur, Switzerland (1758), his health began to fall, so that he was scarcely able to fulfil the duties of his ministry; he consulted various physicians in vain; suddenly he conceived the idea that his infirmities might be due to the influence of the evil spirit and might be cured by spiritual means. His experiment was successful. He applied this method also to others and soon thousands came to him to be healed. The fame of these cures spread far and wide; he was invited to the Diocese of Constance, to Ellwangen, Ratisbon, and other places; everywhere he had the same success.
He was convinced that the evil spirit could harm the body as well as the soul; and hence that some infirmities were not the result of natural agencies, but were caused by the Devil. Only cases of the latter kind were taken up; he applied the exorcisms of the Church, and commanded the evil one to depart from the afflicted, in the name of the Lord Jesus. To find out whether the disease was caused naturally or not, he applied the “probative exorcism”, i.e. he commanded the spirit to indicate by some sign has presence in the body. And only then he made use of the “expulsive exorcism”. His proceedings were not secret; anyone of good standing, Catholic or Protestant, was admitted. People of all classes, nobles, ecclesiastics, physicians, and others often gathered around him to see the marvels they had heard of. Official records were made, competent witnesses testified to the extraordinary happenings. The character of the work made many enemies for him, but also many stanch friends and supporters. One of his bitterest opponents was the rationalistic professor Johannes Semler of Halle. Also the physician Mesmer pretended that the cures were performed by the animal magnetism of his invention, but he was afraid of confronting Gassner. Among his friends were the Calvinistic minister, Lavater of Zurich, and especially Count Fugger, the Prince-Bishhop of Ratisbon.
Official investigations were made by the ecclesiastical authorities; and all were favourable to Gassner, except that they recommended more privacy and decorum. The University of Ingolstadt appointed a commission, and so did the Imperial Government; they ended with the approval of Gassner’s procedure. In fact, he never departed from the Church’s teaching or instructions concerning exorcism, and always disclaimed the name of wonder-worker. He was an exemplary priest, full of faith and zeal, and altogether unselfish in his works of mercy.
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FRANCIS J. SCHAEFER Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VICopyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Gassner Johann Joseph
a Roman Catholic priest, was born at Branz, near Plunz, August 20, 1727, studied theology at Innsbruck and Prague, was ordained priest in 1750, and in 1758 was settled as pastor at Klosterle. After filling that station for some fifteen years, he began to believe in the cure of physical disorders by exorcism, in virtue of the power conferred on him by his ordination. His first attempts were made upon himself, and having been, as he thought, successful, he felt encouraged to follow what he considered his calling. He traveled much, curing the sick, who were brought to him often from places afar off. “The bishop of Constance called him to his residence, but, having come very soon to the conviction that he was a charlatan, advised him to return to his parsonage. Gassner betook himself, however, to other prelates of the empire, some of whom believed that his cures were miraculous. In 1774 he even received a call from the bishop at Ratisbon to Ellwangen, where, by the mere word of command, Cesset (Give over), he cured persons who pretended to be lame or blind, but especially those afflicted with convulsions and epilepsy, who were all supposed to be possessed by the devil. Although an official person kept a continued record of his cures, in which the most extraordinary things were testified, yet it was found only too soon that Gassner very often made persons in health play the part of those in sickness, and that his cures of real sufferers were successful only so long as their imagination remained heated by the persuasions of the conjuror” (Chambers, from Conv. Leaxkon, s.v.). Finally, the emperor, Joseph II, forbade his exorcisms, and the archbishops Anton Peter of Prague and Hieronymus of Salzburg declared themselves against him (see Act. histor. eccl. nostri temporis, 19:315). Pope Pius VI expressed his disapprobation both of Gassner’s deeds and writings. He died in retirement April 4, 1779. Lavater (q.v.) believed in the reality of many’ of the cures ascribed to Gassner, and regarded them as the result of an extraordinary power of faith. Among his works, the most remarkable are Weise, fromm und gesund zu leben, und ruhig und gottselig zu sterben, etc. (Kempten, 1774; Augsb. 1775, 3d ed.), and J.J. Gassner’s Antwort auf. d. Anmerkungsen wider seine Grntde u. Weise z. exorcismen (Augsburg, 1774). Harzag, Real-Encyklop. 4:664; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, 19:595; Sterzinger, Die aufgedeckten Gassnerschen Wundercuren (1775); Semler, Sammlung von Brieffen u. Aufsatzen uber die Gassmersche Geisterbeschworung (Halle, 1776).