An immersive 3D audio docuseries that tells the true stories of an exorcist and the people he has helped began its second season last month, after topping the charts on podcasts.
The Exorcist Files (The Exorcist Files), presented by Ryan Bethea and Father Carlos Martins, offers dramatic re-enactments of the case files of Father Martins, a Catholic priest and official exorcist on two continents and an authority on spiritual combat.
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He podcast It experienced massive success upon its release in January 2023, reaching the top of Spotify’s Religion chart, and remaining in Apple’s and Spotify’s top 10 for most of the year. Season 2 of podcast It was released on July 16.
Something that differentiates this podcast from others is the 3D binaural experience it provides, meaning that the podcast uses three-dimensional layers of sounds so that listeners feel that the episode is unfolding around them, as if they were in the room with Fr. Martins, as he speaks to the individual suffering from demonic oppression or possession and is at his side while performs the exorcism.
“I have always been fascinated by miracles and spiritual combat. As a producer, I thought this would be a fantastic story,” Bethea told CNA — EWTN News’ English agency — in an interview. “Not being Catholic, when I learned about the miracle research process that accompanies canonization, I was amazed. And, of course, when it comes to spiritual combat, the Catholic Church is the authority.”
After speaking with different connections about his desire to document the reality of the supernatural events, Bethea was referred to Father Martins. They gave him his phone number, he called him and was immediately rejected.
“He thought I was making up the story. Finally, when he heard that I had, in fact, been put in touch with him, we started talking about what a program would be like,” she said. “I was very impressed by how quickly he rejected Hollywood. He takes his job very seriously, and I knew he had to earn his trust. Ultimately, we both shared a desire to raise awareness about the rise of occult activity and the reality of evil. “We both knew that taking advantage of modern entertainment media was the way to do it.”
From there, the two began working together to create the podcast and decided to make it independently, using Kickstarter and crowdfunding to raise the funds needed to produce the show.
Bethea explained that while many think that making a podcast only involves two people and a few microphones, they try to The Exorcist Files like “a television show.”
“There is an enormous amount of research, dozens of professional actors, hundreds of pages of scripts and, of course, the masterful audio and sound mixing and engineering that gives the show its signature sound,” he shared.
The Kickstarter campaign was a success, far exceeding their funding expectations, and they were able to fully afford the podcast.
Bethea believes the program has worked well because “it really has something for everyone.”
“If you are a Christian, you will find yourself rejoicing as you see Christ demolish demonic strongholds and see people delivered from things that have baffled doctors,” he said. “If you’re a skeptic, you’ll enjoy the fact that we bring in other experts to argue the other side and try to explain what happened. And if you’re a fan of great stories, these are some of the wildest experiences I’ve ever heard of.”
When asked what he hopes people take away from listening to the podcastemphasized the fact that “spiritual combat is something real and that the words of Jesus cannot be taken seriously if the reality of evil is not taken into account.”
“The goal is not to scare people. It is simply relying on human curiosity to highlight a reality. We try very hard to try to reflect the Church’s own process for dealing with the demonic. “I was very impressed by how thorough Father Martins and his colleagues are before assuming that something is demonic,” he added.
The presenter of podcast He also hopes that people can “celebrate and rejoice in the freedom these victims have found.”
“Even if you listen and think this sounds crazy, or that the healings are psychosomatic, that’s okay. At least you can rejoice that people find freedom and are healed. That’s something we can all get behind. There is something for everyone here.”
Another point Bethea emphasized was how special it has been for him to see “Protestants and Catholics dialogue together and come closer in the shared war.”
“We’ve organized nights where he brought together a lot of evangelicals and Catholics and Fr. Martins talks about the history of the Church, spiritual combat, and I can’t tell you how many Protestants come out of these meetings and say, ‘Wow, I’m I agree with much of what he said,’” he shared.
“A lot of people have told me that they are really exploring Catholicism now for the same reason we do the show: we should all want the truth. Seeing 40 Catholics and Protestants gathered around a living room with a Catholic priest praying for them is an experience for which I am very grateful,” Bethea said, adding: “Of course, there are significant theological differences, but there is a love shared by Jesus and an understanding that we have a common enemy.”
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.
Francesca Pollio Fenton
Francesca Pollio Fenton is the Social Media Manager at Catholic News Agency. She received her bachelor’s degree in Communications with an emphasis in Digital Media from the University of Colorado, Denver (United States).