Joseph Laycock
@josephlaycock.bsky.social
I'm a religious studies professor. I study new religious movements, exorcism, and satanic panic, among other topics. https://sites.google.com/view/joseph-p-laycock/
I don't know enough yet to have a take, but I'm confident Bartolo was a Spiritualist, never a Satanist. He described his Spiritualist phase as being "in the arms of the devil," then Catholics misinterpreted this to claim he was a literal Satanic priest. Media coverage on this claim has been awful.
November 5, 2025 at 4:13 PM
I don't know enough yet to have a take, but I'm confident Bartolo was a Spiritualist, never a Satanist. He described his Spiritualist phase as being "in the arms of the devil," then Catholics misinterpreted this to claim he was a literal Satanic priest. Media coverage on this claim has been awful.