I met father Fortea in Quito, Ecuador earlier this year. While taking a walk with him in the country side, we had agreed to meet later on during the Easter season in Spain at his parish in the dioceses of Alcala, in the town of Anchuelo, Spain.
As I finished my mission in Portugal, and while in transit to Colombia in Madrid, Spain, I called father Fortea, and he came to pick me up at the Gran via of Madrid. He was in the company of a friend from Switzerland , and the three of us hurried through the streets of Madrid trying to catch the 6:00 p.m. mass at his parish. His car was parked a little distance away, and I must say that trying to catch up with these two young men wasn't easy. We finally made it to the parking lot and rapidly took off from the city, and as we were driving, father was giving us a wonderful historical account of Madrid and Spain in general, and mostly related to Catholic history. It was quite fascinating to find out how much of a faithful Catholic Franco was and how he was able to save Spain from the communists that almost destroyed the Catholic Church during the civil war. The account of this history which I learned in Germany while going to school there in the early 70's was completely different, most likely I got it from a communist in Hamburg. I was not converted yet at that time. I learned so many other things on the way to Anchuelo.
Father Fortea is a very structured priest, one who has done his homework in everything that he studied, so his conversation was very educational, animated and interesting, to say the least.
After a good hour and a half, we arrived at a very small town. An ancient place with the charm of centuries of Spanish countryside history. We made it on time even though it was after 6:00 p.m when we arrived, and the reason being, that it was the day in which the old ladies of town usually clean the Church, and when we got there, they were still cleaning. God was on our side.
The parish Church was the perfect setting for an exorcist: a 16th century Church; small and as mysterious and charming as can be. It has such a precious altar, and every detail throughout the church was magnificent.
I noticed a few cars parked outside the Church, in which the demeanor of the people in them was a little unusual. Later on, after Mass, I understood why.
Father went into the sacristy to prepare himself for the celebration of the Mass, and his Swiss friend and I went and sat in the Church to pray. A few other people came into the Church after that. I saw them come in without turning my head to look, and I just remained in prayer.
Father's homily at Mass really surprised me because it was dedicated to all of the people around the world in the Catholic Church that dedicated themselves to the cleaning of the temples. He was acknowledging them and saying how important their jobs were. Even though it was a very unusual homily, it made all the sense in the world, and I happily accepted it.
Right after the Mass was over, father exposed the Blessed Sacrament and put on his black cloak with the hood over his head. He called some people who were sitting in the back and asked them to sit in the front pew. He then prayed for each one of us remaining in the Church; all together about 5 people. The rest had walked away after the Mass was over. He came back to the front and standing in the middle right in front of the foot of the altar, he began to sing in Latin and in tongues, then he sat in between the people he had called to the front pew and spoke in their ears for a bit. Every one of those sitting in front reacted with very demonic sounds and voices began to speak, all in different sounds and noises. I then came to my senses and recalled that I was visiting a priest friend who was an exorcist and as a matter of fact, one of the most renowned ones in the world. It was like landing on a tough reality.
Through my apostolate I have been in many exorcism sessions with exorcists from the Vatican and other places around the world, but this time I was taken by surprise, because I got so involved in the pleasant drive with father and with his instructive conversation to the extent that I forgot all about his mission.
The whole session lasted probably one hour maximum. Apparently a young girl was completely delivered but the rest of the patients were still to continue coming for other sessions later on. Some of them come from foreign countries.
Father invited me and his Swiss friend to dinner in Alcala. A beautiful city filled with history. One of the first pleasant surprises was to find out that Alcala is the home of many storks. I had never seen one in person. It was night time and they were all in their nest. They make their nest on top of the steeples of the Catholic Churches. The nests are gigantic and weigh a lot, and sometimes they cause damage to the steeples. It was quite and exciting sight, one that is not very commonly seen anywhere, as a matter of fact, I almost thought that storks were a legend, it was great to meet them personally.
As we walked through town and father was filling us with remarkable stories about it, we passed by a small chapel. Father turned back and went into the chapel then came right back out to call us in. He told us that this chapel's door is never open; it was the university of Alcala´s chapel; one of the oldest universities in the world, and therefore, a very old chapel too. There was a classical concert being held by a university group of about 30 musicians and singers. They were performing magnificent pieces of music with wonderful classical singing. We stayed at the back of the chapel, and listened to at least four pieces. It was like a true piece of heaven.
We came back out and went to one of father's favorite restaurants in town. He treated us to dinner and close to midnight after a lovely and very entertaining dinner we hurried to catch the last train to Madrid.
I must say that visiting with father Fortea was a very unique experience. I asked him for permission to write this article which is long due to be published.
Let's pray for father Fortea, so that he remains strong, protected and faithful to his powerful and anointed ministry.