VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis’ fascination with the devil took on remarkable new twists Tuesday, with a well-known exorcist insisting Francis helped “liberate” a Mexican man possessed by four different demons despite the Vatican’s insistence that no such papal exorcism took place. The case concerns a 43-year-old husband and father who traveled to Rome from Mexico to attend Francis’ Mass on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square. At the end of the Mass, Francis blessed several wheelchair-bound faithful as he always does, including a man possessed by the devil, according to the priest who brought him, the Rev. Juan Rivas. Francis laid his hands on the man’s head and recited a prayer. The man heaved deeply a half-dozen times, shook, then slumped in his wheelchair. The images, broadcast worldwide, prompted the television station of the Italian bishops’ conference to declare that according to several exorcists, there was “no doubt” that Francis either performed an exorcism or a simpler prayer to free the man from the devil. The Vatican was more cautious. In a statement Tuesday, it said Francis “didn’t intend to perform any exorcism. But as he often does for the sick or suffering, he simply intended to pray for someone who was suffering who was presented to him.” The Rev. Gabriele Amorth, a leading exorcist for the diocese of Rome, said he performed a lengthy exorcism of his own on the man Tuesday morning and ascertained he was possessed by four separate demons. The case was related to the legalization of abortion in Mexico City, he said. Amorth told RAI state radio that even a short prayer, without the full rite of exorcism being performed, is in itself a type of exorcism. “That was a true exorcism,” he said of Francis’ prayer. “Exorcisms aren’t just done according to the rules of the ritual.” Rivas took the Vatican line, saying it was no exorcism but that Francis merely said a prayer to free the man from the devil. “Since no one heard what he said, including me who was right there, you can say he did a prayer for liberation but nothing more,” Rivas wrote on his Facebook page, which was confirmed by his religious order, the Legionaries of Christ. Fueling the speculation that Francis did indeed perform an exorcism is his frequent reference to Satan in his homilies — as well as an apparent surge in demand for exorcisms among the faithful despite the irreverent treatment the rite often receives from Hollywood. Who can forget the green vomit and the spinning head of the possessed girl in the 1973 cult classic “The Exorcist”? In his very first homily as pope on March 14, Francis warned cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel the day after he was elected that “he who doesn’t pray to the Lord prays to the devil.” He has since mentioned the devil on a handful of occasions, most recently in a May 4 homily when in his morning Mass in the Vatican hotel chapel he spoke of the need for dialogue — except with Satan. “With the prince of this world you can’t have dialogue: Let this be clear!” he warned. Experts said Francis’ frequent invocation of the devil is a reflection both of his Jesuit spirituality and his Latin American roots, as well as a reflection of a Catholic Church weakened by secularization. “The devil’s influence and presence in the world seems to fluctuate in quantity inversely proportionate to the presence of Christian faith,” said the Rev. Robert Gahl, a moral theologian at Rome’s Pontifical Holy Cross University. “So, one would expect an upswing in his malicious activity in the wake of de-Christianization and secularization” in the world and a surge in things like drug use, pornography and superstition. In recent years, Rome’s pontifical universities have hosted several courses for would-be exorcists on the rite, updated in 1998 and contained in a little red leather-bound booklet. The rite is relatively brief, consisting of blessings with holy water, prayers and an interrogation of the devil in which the exorcist demands to know the devil’s name, how many are present and when they will leave the victim. Only a priest authorized by a bishop can perform an exorcism, and canon law specifies that the exorcist must be “endowed with piety, knowledge, prudence and integrity of life.” While belief in the devil is consistent with church teaching, the Holy See does urge prudence, particularly to ensure that the victim isn’t merely psychologically ill. The Rev. Giulio Maspero, a Rome-based systematic theologian who has witnessed or participated in more than a dozen exorcisms, says he’s fairly certain that Francis’ prayer on Sunday was either a full-fledged exorcism or a more simple prayer to “liberate” the young man from demonic possession. He noted that the placement of the pope’s hands on the man’s head was the “typical position” for an exorcist to use. “When you witness something like that — for me it was shocking — I could feel the power of prayer,” he said in a phone interview, speaking of his own previous experiences. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, sought to temper speculation that what occurred was a full-fledged exorcism. While he didn’t deny it outright — he said Francis hadn’t “intended” to perform one — he stressed that the intention of the person praying is quite important. Late Tuesday, the director of TV2000, the television of the Italian bishops’ conference, went on the air to apologize for the earlier report. “I don’t want to attribute to him a gesture that he didn’t intend to perform,” said the director, Dino Boffo. That said, Francis’ actions and attitude toward the devil are not new: As archbishop of Buenos Aires, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio frequently spoke about the devil in our midst. In the book “Heaven and Earth,” Bergoglio devoted the second chapter to “The Devil” and said in no uncertain terms that he believes in the devil and that Satan’s fruits are “destruction, division, hatred and calumny.” “Perhaps its greatest success in these times has been to make us think that it doesn’t exist, that everything can be traced to a purely human plan,” he wrote. Italian newspapers noted that the late Pope John Paul II performed an exorcism in 1982 — near the same spot where Francis prayed over the young disabled man Sunday.

MARIETTA — Marietta High senior Brooke Donnelly got to the top of her class by taking seriously her academics, athletics and leadership roles, yet with a heart full of compassion. “I love Brooke for her commitment to Marietta High School,” said Student Council Faculty Adviser Kibbie DeJarnett. “I wish all students could have the same loyalty to their role as a leader, as well as a student. Washington and Lee has a gem coming their way.” The 2013 Marietta High School valedictorian will be attending Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., this fall. She is only one of a handful of incoming freshmen who received the school’s Johnson Scholarship valued at almost $60,000 a year. The 18-year-old, who chose to attend Marietta High because of its International Baccalaureate program, jumped into high school and hit the ground running from the very beginning. “The IB program brought me to Marietta High School, but also the experience that my brother (Cole Donnelly) had when he was there because he really loved it there, helped me decide to go there,” she said. Donnelly has served on her school’s student council and played tennis for the school team since ninth grade and is also a member of 11 other school organizations, including Beta Club, Spanish Club and the Environmental Club. “I pretty much got involved as soon as I could and as often as I could,” she said. And if there’s anything she’s learned about being so heavily involved in her school, it’s been what she refers to as “internal motivation.” “At the end of the day, it’s about what you’re willing to do,” she said. “It’s not about how much your parents push you, but what you’re going to do to take initiative. … Start out being motivated from the beginning; don’t wait till your senior year to try to do things.” Her involvement stretches beyond the walls of Marietta High, though. She also participates in The Bert Show’s Big Thank You! Project, Wounded Warrior Project, Keep Marietta Beautiful and CAS (Creativity, Action and Service). “It’s been busy and the IB program keeps me working really hard and the classes are very challenging, but that’s good,” she said. She is hoping to take that excitement, involvement and heavy participation on to her college experience. “I think I’m more excited than nervous about going to college,” Donnelly said. “It’ll be nice to take classes in college that I’m more interested in and I’m excited about playing college tennis and having a little bit more flexibility.” That doesn’t mean she won’t miss high school, though. “I think I’m going to miss my friends, my teachers and all the different clubs that I’ve been able to do,” she said. “I think it’ll be difficult in college to be able to do so many different things.” Donnelly was initially leaning toward a larger college, but chose Washington and Lee, which is a private liberal arts school with around 2,000 students, because she liked the intimacy of the smaller classes, plus she’ll be able to continue playing tennis for the school. “I went to visit one weekend and realized I really liked a smaller school like the IB program here at Marietta,” she said. “For the longest time, I was planning on going to the Air Force Academy but I couldn’t make up my mind and then I decided that Washington and Lee would just be a better fit for me.” She’s still undecided on a major but is thinking about pre-law. “I have a lot of interests still so I haven’t narrowed it down,” she said. Donnelly is one of about 350 seniors graduating from Marietta High School this morning. The ceremony will be at Northcutt Stadium.