Theophilus Riesinger

Theophilus Riesinger, OFMCap, born Francis Xavier Riesinger (February 27, 1868 – November 9, 1941) was a German-American Capuchin friar and Roman Catholic priest, who became widely known as an exorcist in the United States due to the highly publicized possession case of Anna Ecklund in 1928.

Life Riesinger was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire. He later moved to the United States, where he entered the Capuchin Order. He was ordained as a priest on 29 June 1899. In the summer of 1928, due to his previous experience as an exorcist in dealing with demonic possessions, he was requested by the Bishop of Des Moines to conduct the rite of exorcism on a Anna Ecklund, a 46-year-old woman who was suspected of being possessed in Earling, Iowa.

Reverend Pastor Joseph Steiger, who oversaw the exorcism, gave his account to Reverend Carl Vogel in Nazi Germany, who published it as a pamphlet.

Riesinger’s account of the exorcism was recorded by acquaintance Federick J. Bunse in 1934. It was titled The Earling possession case: An exposition of the exorcism of 'Mary', a demoniac. However, the Roman Catholic Church did not give approval for its publication. It remained unpublished until 2020, when it was included in Joseph P. Laycock’s The Penguin Book of Exorcisms. Riesinger died on November 9, 1941. A necrology of Riesinger was placed on the Internet as part of the Capuchin Heritage Series.