The Real Life Exorcism Of Emma Schmidt

What this episode is about

The case of Emma Schmidt recounts a deeply disturbing exorcism that became the longest documented example in history, rooted in her sudden inability to enter a church without experiencing violent, intrusive thoughts after a lifetime of devout Catholicism. Despite being deemed physically healthy by specialists, her church ultimately determined that she was possessed, prompting a significant and harrowing exorcism led by Father Theopoulos Risinger in 1912, which has since inspired a notable film.

Key takeaways

• Demons may take naps, but they never forget to haunt—Emma Schmidt's possession returned after years of peace.
• Exorcism's not just about holy water; it requires a jacked priest with nerves of steel for the ultimate demon showdown.
• Possession often masquerades as mental illness; Emma's eerie symptoms baffled specialists before the church stepped in.
• In exorcism lore, secrecy is sacred; a rural parish shielded Emma from prying eyes and demonic influences alike.
• The longest documented exorcism reveals a chilling truth: sometimes, the real horror lies in our own minds.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Ryan Bergara (Host) · 8 min speaking
• Shane Madej (Host) · 8 min speaking
• Father Theopoulos Risinger (Guest)
• Emma Schmidt (Guest)

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Emma Schmidt, Father Theopoulos Risinger
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Father Theopoulos Risinger, St. Joseph Parish
3. 9:00 – 12:00: Father Theopoulos Risinger
4. 12:00 – 15:00: Emma Schmidt, St. Joseph Parish, William Peter Blatty, Dan Stevens
5. 15:00 – 15:25: Al Pacino, Dan Stevens

Notable quotes from "The Real Life Exorcism Of Emma Schmidt"

• Without further ado, let's get into the exorcism of Emma Schmidt. Emma Schmidt had been a devout Catholic her entire life. When Emma turned 14 years old suddenly she could not enter a church without inner voices filling her mind.

  about Emma Schmidt · at 0:55

• Had become the preeminent exorcist in the country. When the request came in Risinger was preaching at the St. Joseph Parish. He believed this would make a perfect location…

  about Father Theopoulos Risinger · at 3:52

• Which was often misunderstood and even ignored at the time. containing full transcripts of the battles. Begone Satan was a major inspiration on William Peter Blatty as he wrote…

  about William Peter Blatty · at 13:44

• Ceiling. Yeah. Who knows? I guess you can know if you go see the film on June 6th. That's right. Pacino and Stevens bringing it to you. I think you'd like to be exercised by…

  about Al Pacino · at 15:03

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Emma Schmidt — Person · Central subject (alleged possessed person) · 4 mentions · first at 1:00
  The episode recounts the purportedly longest, extensively documented exorcism, framed as being 'based on' her case and used to discuss demons vs. mental illness and later media adaptations.
• Father Theopoulos Risinger — Person · Primary exorcist / referenced historical figure · 3 mentions · first at 2:04
  Presented as the key priest-exorcist who led the exorcism sessions, questioned demons, coordinated with the parish, and is described as highly experienced and central to the narrative’s events.
• William Peter Blatty — Person · Referenced author (inspiration link to horror media) · 1 mention · first at 13:50
  Mentioned as the creator of The Exorcist, with the episode claiming the exorcism account/book 'Begone Satan' inspired him—connecting the historical story to famous pop culture.
• Dan Stevens — Person · Referenced actor (upcoming film cast) · 2 mentions · first at 14:04
  Mentioned alongside Al Pacino as starring in The Ritual; appears in light banter at the end, reinforcing the film tie-in.
  Finally be unleashed on the public as the new movie The Ritual starring Alpuccino and Dan Stevens shows the world the true account of what happened in that convent.
• Al Pacino — Person · Referenced actor (upcoming film cast) · 1 mention · first at 15:07
  Cited as a star of the upcoming film The Ritual, used as a closing promotional hook for the episode’s story-to-film connection.

Places & events

• St. Joseph Parish — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at 3:56
  The location where the exorcism of Emma Schmidt took place, serving as a key setting for the story.
  Risinger, who since last meeting Emma had become the preeminent exorcist in the country. When the request came in Risinger was preaching at the St. Joseph Parish. He believed…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Hello there. You remember us, right? Just popping over here from the Ghost Files bunker at Watcher to talk about the new film, The Ritual. Ryan, do you believe in ghosts still and demons and all of those things? Yes. Okay. I still believe in all that. And I'm still really terrified of demons. Do demons scare you more than ghosts? Yes, of course. They're evil and they have they're sort of are they sent ignore your little smirk and I'm just going to answer your question. That's a natural smirk. That's unfortunately little smirk face. And what better way to talk about The Ritual, a movie about an exorcism than to discuss the actual exorcism that it's based off of, and not just any exorcism, but the longest exorcism ever performed. This is one of the most extensively documented exorcisms in history. The account of what happened was so disturbing, it inspired the most terrifying movie ever made.

0:58 Without further ado, let's get into the exorcism of Emma Schmidt. Emma Schmidt had been a devout Catholic her entire life. When Emma turned 14 years old suddenly she could not enter a church without inner voices filling her mind with violent thoughts. Impulses to shatter holy water fonts consumed her consciousness. Fonts. Fonts. Is that like a a fountain of font of knowledge? Oh, you learn something new every day. Yeah, you did. I I did. You saw that live. Not only did she refuse to receive communion, but any consecrated items she encountered caused revulsion. With symptoms matching many nervous and hysterical cases, Emma was taken to specialists who insisted that she was normal in the fullest sense without even the slightest indication suggesting physical illness. What Emma was experiencing seemed not to be a sickness of the body, but of the soul. She turned to her beloved church for help. To them

1:56 it was clear she was possessed. When they contacted the bishop for help in 1912, he put them in contact with Father Theopoulos Risinger. Despite only having immigrated from Germany earlier that year, Father Risinger had built a stainless career on missions throughout the United States where he witnessed multiple possessions. Described as being blessed with a muscular body and with the nerves of steel, he was asked by the church to join the rarified order of exorcists to drive out the spirits that tormented Emma. I guess if you live on a diet of crackers and wine, you're probably pretty jacked. Really didn't do much for you. Well, now come on. Unless that's a very loose- fitting shirt, but I can't imagine. So, this shirt I guess I'm just sort of showing off my uh No, I'm jacked. Okay. Um, how many push-ups do you think this father could do? This guy. Well, this is the thing. If I'm in the League of Exorcists, the League of

2:51 Extraordinary Exorcists or whatever they're called? I'm looking at the jacked guy and I'm going, "Les, well, is we got all these puny shrimps here. Look at this beef cake." Yeah, but the thing is possessed. If a possessed person could like float and like that, is it really going to matter how many sit-ups you can do? Yes. Because I mean, a lot of times they're just, you know, you know, reading from a book and being like, "Please stop it." you know, you got to grab them by the throat and kind of smack him around. I think because you're not smacking the person, you're smacking the demon. You're trying to get that demon out of that person. Just get the You know, I'm just saying I don't think a demon's going to be like, "Maybe I'll stop that guy." But you got to admit that if you're more if you're jacked and muscular, if you got thrown against a wall, you've got muscle, you know, you can kind of take it. If you're

3:35 a feeble old man with osteoporosis, I'm not buying it. You can shatter. Just not buying it. After a battle, they believed the exorcism had worked. For years, Emma lived a life dedicated to the church until she turned 46 when the voices returned. Once more, they turned to Risinger, who since last meeting Emma had become the preeminent exorcist in the country. When the request came in Risinger was preaching at the St. Joseph Parish. He believed this would make a perfect location because the parish contained both a Catholic church and a convent to perform the ritual. The surrounding town only had a few hundred residents, which made it easy to keep Schmidt's identity anonymous. It was far from Schmidt's home, which would lessen the devil's hold on her. Now, this is interesting because the demon is sort of playing the the long game here. Yeah.

4:23 Just chilling till she's 46. Well, he saw that jacked priest and they were like, I'm going to go to sleep for a little bit, make them think I've gone and then I'll come back. Yeah. But alternative, Emma starts acting up saying, "I'm going to strangle a priest." You know, people are like "Emma, well, we're going to punish you by bringing in a hunky exorcist." Haha. Exorcist is like, "Great. See you later." She's like "Okay." Time passes a lot of time. She's think about that. Hm. Remember that hunky priest? Wouldn't mind seeing him again. Father Risinger approached the man overseeing the parish. his old friend, Reverend Stiger. Stiger feared welcoming demons into the parish he was responsible for. Believing there was no way she would allow it, Stiger agreed only if the mother superior gave her blessing. When told this, Risinger smiled and said, "Thanks for your permission. The case is therefore

5:19 settled, as the mother superior did give her consent from the very beginning. I have already made all arrangements with her for this case." I have to admit though, I don't blame him for not wanting to welcome a demon into my church to do the exorcism. Why don't you do it, at, your, own, church?, Churches, be welcoming of all. Do it at your own church. On August 18th, 1928, Emma was immediately filled with rage as she crossed into Erling. Nuns greeted Emma causing her to want to attack them. To prepare Emma for the battle ahead, the nuns attempted to feed her only to have Emma suffer as if her very body were encased in burning coals. And that's a quote right there. Showboating.

5:58 Wait, what do you mean showboating? I get it. Unbeknownst to Emma, the nuns had sprinkled holy water on the food. Instead of eating, Emma purrred like an animal in her room, awaiting Risinger's arrival. Yeah, I guess they give her a little b a little slider. A little slider, but put a little holy water on it. Just take a bite. Don't worry about it. It's a slider. It'll go down smooth. She's like, she takes. Expecting the battle to last for days they selected a large room in the convent, which they fortified with the church's spiritual weapons, including a picss containing consecrated host that Risinger kept by his heart. The strongest nuns hauled Emma in, binding her onto an iron bed to prevent her escape. Taking his place, Father Risinger had not even finished his opening blessing before it's reported that, quote, "With lightning speed, the possessed dislodged herself from the bed and from the hands of her guards, and

6:52 her body carried through the air, landed high above the door of the room, and clung to the wall with a tenacious grip." Lots to unpack there, Spider-Man. She turned into Spider-Man. Yeah, pretty cool. That's pretty sweet. Father Risinger kept his cool, commanding quote, "Pull her down. She must be brought back to her place upon the bed. So after the superjacked nuns wrestled Emma back to her bed, she immediately started making noises, quote, like a pack of wild beasts suddenly let loose. Risinger bellowed back, quote, "Silence Satan. Keep quiet, you infamous reprobate." Emma continued her howls of hell that echoed throughout the neighborhood. One person asked, "Is there someone in the convent being murdered? Not even a pig stabbed with a butcher knife yells with such shrieking howls as these.

7:40 Like if I heard these screams, I'd be like, "Who's screaming?" It took a physical toll, draining life from everyone in the convent. Emma was constantly frothing and spitting and vomiting forth unmentionable excrements from the mouth. In an attempt to defile Risinger's consecrated host without having Eden for weeks, she was producing quote outpourings that would fill a pitcher full of the most obnoxious stench in quantities that were humanly speaking impossible to lodge in a normal being. End quote. Gross. At one point she threw up a bowl full of matter resembling vomited macaroni. A lot of uh choice adjectives and descriptors here for what's going on in this horrible room. If it came out sort of steaming and looking just like a big old bowl of mac and cheese, I'd be like, "Let's lock this lady up and just tickle her every now and then so she gives us some some of that fresh mac." Witnessing a p-sized

8:35 lump move around under Emma's skin, it became obvious her body was changing. She became swollen so badly that the nuns feared she would burst with her eyes bulging out of their sockets. At times she seemed to float above the bed while at others she weighed so much the iron bed frame bent. Does it serve their interest to make people think that demons are real? I think so. I think so. Cuz then come on into church. That's right. We'll save you. Here comes that little basket. And we have crackers. And we got crackers. Risinger pleaded with the demons. Quote, "In the name of Jesus and his most blessed mother, Mary the Immaculate, who crushed the head of the serpent, who is the leader or prince among you?" Finally, he received a reply. The Alba Risinger asked, "Are you not Lucifer the prince of the devils?" Emma replied "No, not the prince, the chieftain, but one, of the, leaders.", Well,, see,, now

9:28 that's something I didn't know. I thought Beelbub was just like the devil but I guess he's one of his friends. You knew his name, but you didn't know that it wasn't him. You know, isn't whatever. Risinger pressed her, "Why do you call yourself Bezabub if you're not the prince of the devils?" She spat back. Enough. My name is Bezelbub. Okay, how about you shut the [ __ ] up? It is funny to get into an argument with Satan. During these sessions, the cause for her possession came out when the damned souls of her father Jacob and his mistress Mina came forward. While living, Jacob and Mina, who claimed to be a child murdering witch, had abused Emma. When Emma resisted their attacks Jacob welcomed demons to break her down causing the first possession. Emma's devotion to the church kept her safe until Jacob and Mina on their deathbed made it a deal with the devil to take Emma's soul to keep theirs from eternal

10:20 damnation. Their deaths had released the current demons upon her. Months dragged on, but Risinger was the only person present at every session. Even Reverend Stiger's faith began to wne. He regretted allowing the exorcism at the parish. If Emma died, Stiger feared the church would be blamed. But Risinger assured him, quote, "My friend, the woman will not die." The manifestation is only one of Satan's cunning tricks. He cannot and will not be permitted to kill her. Come December, they had conducted three different sessions lasting 23 total days. Finally, on December 15, it seemed the demons hold on Emma was beginning to weaken as they feared Lucifer would torture them if they did not return with her soul. Is that how that works? These demons are just like the middleman for Lucifer. And they're like reporting to him with I guess. Yeah, he's the higher up. He's like uh, is this your I'd like us to work on

11:16 uh this little lady over here. Well, I'm thinking it's more like a quota. Like he's behind his desk and he's like, "All right, what's this? Looks like you're short on your souls this month." I just think it's funny that there's some sort of, bureaucratic, network, in, in in, hell. Father Risinger began praying day and night with no breaks, making a crucial mistake. The demons mocked that God's justice would not allow them to release Emma. Quote, "Because sufficient atonement has not yet been made for her." Immediately, the parish sprung into action, performing acts of atonement, praying and fasting to shatter their hold on her soul. I like that they the demon just had to mention God. Yeah, cuz they were like, "Get out of her. Leave her alone demon." Then the demon's like, "I think God's kind of weak." And they're like "What' you say?" At 9:00 a.m. on December 23rd, Emma leapt up. The nuns

12:08 rushed to restrain her, but Emma softly fell to her bed, muttering, "Be elabub Judas, Jacob, Mina. Hell, hell, hell." Minutes later, Emma's eyes fluttered open. As the stunned crowd studied her Emma proclaimed, "From what a terrible burden have I been freed at last. My Jesus mercy. Praise be Jesus Christ." There was much rejoicing until the terrible odor of the ordeal filled their nostrils. They opened the window to let the air out and announced the good news. See, now this goes back to my theory of her just wanting the hunky exorcist to come around. I don't think your theory is correct. No, you think she was genuinely possessed. You think demons are real? I don't want to assume I know anything. And if it's something as dangerous as possibly that, what's the point of spitting in the face of it? Cuz then if you just go through life being terrified of things that it's not a big deal for me to avoid demonic locations.

12:59 In fact, as I say as as I go to hunt demonic locations for my job. Yeah. If they're real, they're aware of you and they don't like you, right? I think they they're, scared, of, me., They're, going to kill you one day. I'm going to laugh. Within a year, each of the nuns that had tended to the exorcism transferred to different convents. St. Joseph Parish no longer exists. Everybody agreed to keep Emma's identity a secret. And to this day, Emma Schmidt is just one of several aliases that are known for the possessed woman. All that is truly known is that she returned to a normal life as a devout Catholic. She never needed another exorcism. And that woman's real identity Betty White, igniting a firestorm of controversy, many argued that Emma Schmidt was a victim of mental illness which was often misunderstood and even ignored at the time. containing full transcripts of the battles. Begone Satan

13:50 was a major inspiration on William Peter Blatty as he wrote The Exorcist. What many consider the scariest movie of all time. On June 6th, the true story will finally be unleashed on the public as the new movie The Ritual starring Alpuccino and Dan Stevens shows the world the true account of what happened in that convent.

14:17 thoughts on all this? It's a fascinating tale. It's almost nice that there is a a large chunk of history where it's harder to know what is fiction, what is true what accounts from people are to be believed. Well, I mean, the thing is like I said up top here, a lot of these cases are on the border of like, is this a mental illness or is this something that's actually occurring? If all the things that happened in the story actually occurred as they were said then yeah, that probably is something that would not be attributed to a mental illness or it could have been just a traumatizing experience for her. Yeah.

14:53 Witnessed by other people who then exaggerated it. Pretty big exaggeration. I mean, it certainly it would be. I've seen you have tough days, but I've never been like then Shane vomited a bowl of macaroni and then climbed on the ceiling. Yeah. Who knows? I guess you can know if you go see the film on June 6th. That's right. Pacino and Stevens bringing it to you. I think you'd like to be exercised by Dan Stevens. I wouldn't mind it. Just wearing that little square. Wouldn't mind it.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "The Real Life Exorcism Of Emma Schmidt"?

Ryan Bergara (Host), Shane Madej (Host), Father Theopoulos Risinger (Guest), Emma Schmidt (Guest).

What is "The Real Life Exorcism Of Emma Schmidt" about?

The case of Emma Schmidt recounts a deeply disturbing exorcism that became the longest documented example in history, rooted in her sudden inability to enter a church without experiencing violent, intrusive thoughts after a lifetime of devout Catholicism. Despite being deemed physically healthy by specialists, her church ultimately determined that she was possessed, prompting a significant and…

What is mentioned in this BuzzFeed Unsolved Network episode?

6 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Emma Schmidt, Father Theopoulos Risinger, St. Joseph Parish, William Peter Blatty, Dan Stevens, Al Pacino. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The Real Life Exorcism Of Emma Schmidt"?

The episode runs 15 min; the transcript is about 2,797 words in 19 timestamped sections.

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