The Catholic Church is concerned about the number of exorcisms that its priests are being asked to perform. In recent years, this figure has tripled, and now about 500,000 requests are made annually in Italy alone. In 2018, Vatican conferences were held in Palermo and Rome to discuss Satanism, the need for more priests, and providing better training for those trying to rid people of demonic possession. Father Cesare Truqui, considered to be one of the world’s leading exorcists, told the assembled priests that “there are no more young priests willing to learn the doctrine and practice of liberation of souls.”
Casting out demons:
- Father Gabriele Amorth, an Italian priest who died in 2016 at the age of 91, was the Diocese of Rome’s exorcist, performing tens of thousands of exorcisms over the years.
- Father Amorth claimed that he had seen people possessed by demons vomiting shards of glass and pieces of iron. He often argued that the Devil had actually gotten into the Vatican.
- Father Paolo Carlin told conference-goers about the signs of possession, including a “furious aversion" to sacred objects, abnormal strength, and knowledge of obscure ancient languages.