In a message to a meeting of the International Association of Exorcists, held just outside Rome, the Pope encouraged participants to accompany the faithful who suffer from evil through prayers of liberation and consolation.
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV had a message of appreciation on Tuesday for exorcist priests gathered at the 15th International Association of Exorcists (AIE) held from 15 to 20 September at the “Fraterna Domus” Spirituality Centre in Sacrofano, near Rome. The meeting brought together around 300 priests and exorcist assistants from all continents.
Victory over Evil
The Pope reminded them that the ministry of the exorcist is “delicate” yet “most necessary,” encouraging priests “to live it both as a ministry of liberation and of consolation, accompanying the faithful truly possessed by the evil one with prayer and the invocation of Christ’s effective presence, so that (…) the Lord may grant victory over Satan.”
The conference included moments of listening and reflection, where the importance of the exorcism ministry was reaffirmed as “a concrete sign of the Church’s love for brothers and sisters who suffer,” as explained by AIE president, Father Karel Orlita, canon lawyer and exorcist of the diocese of Brno.
In his homily, during the celebration of Holy Mass in Sacrofano, Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, focused on the significance of accompanying those who suffer because of the devil, noting that in their suffering, they participate in Christ’s own suffering.
