Malachi Martin was at various stages of his life, a Jesuit priest, professor at a Pontifical Institute in Rome, a bestselling author and most notably, an exorcist

A priest who inspired ‘The Exorcist’, was killed when a ‘possessed’ infant spoke to him, a former CIA agent in a new documentary will claim.

Irish Malachi Martin, who died aged 78 in 1999, was at various stages of his life, a Jesuit priest, professor at a Pontifical Institute in Rome, a bestselling author and most notably, an exorcist.

The new feature-length documentary Hostage to the Devil, speaks with witnesses to exorcisms who regarded the Co Kerry priest as a spiritual genius.

It has been claimed that after an exorcism in 1999, and after a fall that later led to his death, Fr Martin told a friend that an invisible force had pushed him, leading to the head trauma.

The central question to the film, which will be available to watch on Netflix from Sunday, will ask, ‘Does the devil really exist’?

[link to www.mirror.co.uk]