Gassner

Gassner, JOHANN JOSEPH, exorcist, was born 28th August 1727, near Bludenz, in the Vorarlberg, and became Catholic priest at Klösterle, in the diocese of Coire. He began to cure the sick by driving out the demons that possessed them by means of exorcism and prayer. In 1774 he received the sanction of the Bishop of Ratisbon; and by the mere word of command, Cesset ('Give over'), he cured the lame or blind, but especially those afflicted with convulsions and epilepsy, who were all supposed to be possessed by the devil. Ultimately he was found to be an impostor; the archbishops of Prague and Salzburg issued pastorals against his imposture, and the imperial authorities compelled the Bishop of Ratisbon to dismiss him. The bishop, however, gave him the cure of Bendorf, and there he died in 1779.