Bestselling author and ex-Jesuit Malachi Martin—at the end of his life, Father Malachi Martin, also known as “Dr. Martin”—was an interesting person, to say the least.
He was a lightning rod for controversy, making claims that many felt were unsubstantiated rumors (such as one that in 1963, an actual satanic ritual had been held at the Vatican). There is even controversy over his priesthood: Martin asked to be released from his vows of poverty and obedience; some say he was laicized.
A traditionalist Catholic and excellent writer, Martin moved to New York City from his native Ireland in 1965 and worked for a while as a taxi driver and dishwasher, before settling into a career penning books. His nine brothers and sisters included a nun and three priests. Reports say he asked for and received back his faculty to celebrate public Mass again from the Archdiocese of New York ten years before he died on July 27, 1999.
Which brings us to yet another fascinating aspect of this priest who was an author of both non-fiction and fiction, as well as a combination of both called “faction” (fiction based on fact):
Father Martin, who claimed to have conducted thousands of deliverance and exorcism sessions, and wrote a bestseller on exorcism called Hostage To the Devil, at the end reportedly blamed a demon for causing his death.
Or so some who were close to him asserted (for our discernment).
Reported the New York Post: “A ‘possessed’ child is believed to be the culprit behind the death of the Irish priest who inspired “The Exorcist,” a new documentary claims. Malachi Martin went to perform an exorcism on a 4-year-old girl in Connecticut in 1999 – but mysteriously died soon after when he was pushed by an invisible force.
“In the Netflix documentary “Hostage to the Devil,” Martin’s pal and former CIA agent Robert Marrow recalled how when Martin went to greet the girl at her home, the child said to him: ‘So you’re Malachi Martin, and you think you can help her?’”
It was a threat.
Did he have an influence on the famous movie, The Exorcist? [Below, a photo of Martin followed by one of the priest in the movie, courtesy the London Mail].
Martin once told the Scotsman newspaper: “Exorcism can be extremely violent. I have seen objects hurled around rooms by the powers of evil. I have smelt the breath of Satan and heard the demons’ voices – cold, scratchy, dead voices carrying messages of hatred.”
As for the claims he made of scandals in Rome, where he worked as a researcher and interpreter during Vatican Two, Bishop Accountability, a website that focuses on clerical abuse, says, “Some Vatican insiders insisted that Fr. Martin had an axe to grind, while others attempted to destroy his credibility with stories of immoral behavior and illicit affairs with the wives of friends. Towards the end of his life, despite a liberal sojourn when he worked for Cardinal Bea during the time of the Council, Father Martin maintained that the Catholic Church was in apostasy.” [scroll for more:]
Wrote conservative writer Rod Dreher, “In new ‘Exorcist Files’ episode, Father Carlos Martins [an exorcist from Canada] warned strongly against the work of Malachi Martin (author of ‘Hostage To The Devil’), saying he was a self-aggrandizing fraud who, despite Martin’s claim, had been laicized by the Vatican. But I think he’s right. I was a huge fan of Malachi Martin’s … until I met him, in the early 1990s. He struck me as a self-dramatizing manipulator. It shocked me. And he was lying about his clerical status. That’s impossible to overlook.”
In response, another commentator on X opined: “I don’t know if Father Martins is correct as to Malachi Martin’s character, but if you’ve read his fiction you’ll see Malachi Martin was disturbingly accurate regarding the history and future of the Church.”
We’ll leave that for your determination. He certainly stood for orthodoxy and fought to recover what he saw as lost traditions after Vatican Two.
Martin’s obituary in The New York Times said. “The cause was a head injury resulting from a fall, said his companion, Kakia Livanos.” (Livanos was the widow of Greek-American shipping magnate George M. Livanos and according to Wikipedia, lived with Martin for twenty-seven years. They now are side by side in a cemetery, with the same headstone.)
Says the blurb for a new book, Malachi Martin, “Former CIA operations officer Robert Marro Jr. pens a gripping memoir about his close friend and confidante, the famed enigmatic exorcist, bestselling author, and Vatican insider Malachi Martin.
“In this riveting firsthand account, Robert Marro Jr. pulls back the veil on the life of the mysterious and controversial Reverend Dr. Malachi Martin. Over the course of their decade-long friendship, Martin revealed secretive details of the Vatican’s efforts to combat Stalinist Iron Curtain governments during the Cold War. Martin also revealed to Marro previously unknown details of the controversial Third Secret of Fatima, which to date has still not been fully disclosed, despite Vatican protestations to the contrary. Marro also sets the record straight on Martin’s status as an ex-Jesuit priest and alleged womanizer. Martin was not only a renowned exorcist who literally fought the demons of Hell—he was a Dead Sea Scrolls archeologist, Cold War Vatican spy, and advisor to three popes. In Malachi Martin, Marro pulls back the curtain on the only priest who could legitimately be called ‘The Indiana Jones of the Catholic Church.’”
A lightning rod, Father Martin, for sure—like all humans, with both great attributes and—or so it is claimed—failings.
But a fascinating life and a proficiency for words and an educator on the devil’s wiles?
That’s beyond dispute.
[resources: Malachi Martin]
