Evil Is Rising — and We Must Know How to Fight It
Father Gabriele Amorth
This may be an uncomfortable subject — but it is a necessary one. After reading about the life and death of Father Gabriele Amorth, it became clear: we need to understand who Satan is and how he operates.
Father Gabriele Amorth, widely regarded as the world’s most famous exorcist, died in Rome on September 16, 2016, at the age of 91. He served as the official exorcist for the Diocese of Rome, drawing international attention with his outspoken warnings about the rising danger of diabolical influence in modern society.
Over the course of his life, Father Amorth performed an estimated 70,000 exorcism rites — often repeating the rite on the same individuals. He was not a man who theorized about evil from a safe distance. He encountered it face to face, day after day, for decades.
In an April 2015 post, he attributed the Islamic State to demonic influence, stating plainly: “ISIS is Satan. Things first happen in the spiritual realm, then they are made concrete on this earth.” He added that evil is “disguised” in various political, cultural, and religious ways — with one source of inspiration in the devil.
That same spiritual logic applies far beyond ISIS. The same dark influence can be seen at work in Hamas, Boko Haram, the drug cartels, and any force that suppresses, exploits, or destroys human dignity. The names change. The source does not.
Our families, our country, and our culture are under assault — and the battle is first and foremost spiritual. That means the response must be spiritual as well. We cover our families in prayer. We intercede for those who do not yet know the Lord. We stay close to the sacraments. And we ask the Holy Spirit to guide every step, every decision, every word.
The enemy is not hiding. Neither should we.
Demon Possessed
If you have been following this blog, you may recall that in 2005 our team traveled to Croatia — and came face to face with something none of us had ever seen before.
It began after midnight, when our prayer session had ended and Joanne, our group leader, was still praying over a young woman. Without warning, a loud crash split the silence of the basketball gymnasium. I spun around just in time to see a chair flying across the room and slamming down onto the wooden floor.
This was no natural occurrence. The young woman’s body was hurled into the air and thrown to the ground. In that moment, it was unmistakably clear: she was not in control of herself. Her movements were unnatural, contorted — nothing the human body should be able to do on its own. At one point, the evil spirits turned her own hands against her, strangling her with them. She fought back, kicking with everything she had — but she got no relief until Robert, one of our team members, pulled her hands away from her throat.
We formed a circle around her and prayed in the Spirit. When Joanne commanded the demons to leave, the response came back in a low, growling, unmistakably masculine voice: “Nunca! Nunca — es mía!” In Spanish, it means: “Never! Never — she is mine!”
Every sense I had went on full alert. That voice sent shivers up and down my spine. The hair on my arms stood straight up. Never in my life had I witnessed anything like it — and I was terrified.
Shaking in My Shoes
I was shaken — and I knew it was going to get worse. The demons were refusing to leave. The voice coming through her was unmistakably male, deep and raspy, and it did exactly what it was meant to do: make sure every one of us was afraid.
Her body twisted and curved, her spine bending like a startled cat, each contortion followed by a body slam against the floor. Then Joanne asked me to find a bag. I ran to the nearest trash can and grabbed a discarded one — I had no idea why she needed it. By the time I got back, someone else had already come through. Joanne directed us to hold the bag near the young woman’s mouth. She was about to vomit. No one — including me — wanted to get any closer to what was happening. This was new to nearly all of us, and none of us knew what to expect next.
The Exorcist
Then a priest from Serbia quietly made his way through the circle and knelt beside the young woman, sprinkling holy water over her. The reaction was immediate. The main demon let out a shrieking cry: “NO! NO! She’s mine! She’s mine!” It went on like that for some time. The demons spoke in Croatian, Spanish, and English — a detail that called to mind the account in Luke 8:30, where Christ asks the demon its name and receives the answer: Legion. Many.
Not one person from either team moved. We held our positions and backed up the priest in prayer until, finally, the young woman began to return to herself.
That priest had to have been an exorcist. He was prepared — carrying what appeared to be a thick, sacred oil. When he anointed her forehead, something shifted. The spirits grew calm. She was helped to a chair, and Joanne gently asked how she was doing. Her amber hair was tangled and disheveled, dark circles framing her eyes — but her answer was simple: “I’m so tired.”
I couldn’t help but feel a deep compassion for her, and for her boyfriend, as the two of them quietly walked away.
The Curse
Why was she possessed? She shared with Joanne that her mother had put a curse on her. According to Father Amorth, curses issued by a father or mother — particularly against a son, his marriage, and his future children — can open real doors to diabolical influence across generations. The spiritual harm a parent inflicts through curses and occult involvement is not merely psychological. It is, in Father Amorth’s experience, very real.
Opening Demonic Doors
There are many ways that demons gain entry — and many times, the invitation is given innocently, without any awareness of what is being opened.
Reading horoscopes. Allowing children to read books steeped in witchcraft, curses, and the occult. Letting them play video games centered on demons, zombies, or dark spiritual themes. These are not neutral entertainments. Father Amorth himself warned about the consequences of Ouija boards, astrology, and other occult practices. They are open doors — and demons do not need much of an opening.
New Age beliefs, fortune-telling, curses placed by others, and patterns of sin embedded in a family’s history are other avenues of entry. The abuse of drugs, alcohol, and pornography belong on that same list. Each of these weakens the soul’s defenses and signals, in effect, a welcome.
Mind-Controlling Demons
Substance abuse does not merely damage the body — it alters the mind, and an altered mind is far more vulnerable to spiritual attack. Demons surface and take hold where clarity and self-possession once stood. Anyone who has witnessed the devastation of fentanyl addiction has seen this firsthand. Those souls resemble the walking dead — and in a very real spiritual sense, that is exactly what is at stake.
When the Spirits Move In
When people abuse drugs and alcohol, their minds become altered — and when the mind is altered, control slips away. That is precisely when demonic spirits move in and take hold. These are called familiar spirits, and the name fits: they know exactly when to surface. They are patient, combative, and controlling — and they are dangerous because they lead the soul deeper and deeper into sin.
Over more than twenty years of working with the homeless, this has become impossible to ignore. Many of the men and women encountered on those streets were filled with these kinds of spirits. The drugs and alcohol had made a comfortable home for them. The Enemy told a lie — and they believed it. And so they withdrew from the world, living like recluses, cut off from love, from community, from God.
Biblical Warnings
The Bible leaves no room for ambiguity on these matters.
On horoscopes:
Isaiah 47:13–14 (New Catholic Bible)
You have exhausted yourself with consultations ever since your youth. Let the astrologers now come forth to save you, those who seek the future in the stars and who predict at each new moon what will befall you next. But they are like stubble; the fire consumes them. They cannot even deliver themselves from the heat of the flames. These flames are not meant to sit beside; these glowing embers are not meant for keeping warm.
On fortune-telling, witchcraft, and curses:
Leviticus 20:6 (New American Bible, Revised Edition) Should anyone turn to ghosts and spirits and prostitute oneself with them, I will turn against that person and cut such a one off from among the people.
2 Kings 21:6 (New Catholic Bible) He burned his son in flames, practiced witchcraft, used divination, and cooperated with mediums and wizards. He did horrible things in the sight of the Lord, provoking the Lord to anger.
Leviticus 19:31 (New Catholic Bible) Do not consult mediums or seek after wizards, to be defiled by them. I am the Lord, your God.
Psalm 106:37 (New American Bible, Revised Edition) They sacrificed to demons their own sons and daughters.
Proverbs 3:7–8 (New Catholic Bible) Do not pride yourself on your own wisdom; fear the Lord and turn your back on evil. This will provide healing for your flesh and restore strength to your body.
Pray for the lost — and leave the exorcisms to the experts.
My Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for removing all doubt about the reality of demonic activity. Continue to give us the discernment we need to fight this ongoing battle with wisdom, courage, and faith. Amen.