New EWTN docuseries offers inside look at the Catholic Church’s rite of exorcism
EWTN Studios and Cumberland Creative’s three-part docuseries “In Jesus’ Name” aims to demystify Catholic exorcism and show how the rite is conducted. The series features exorcists, theologians, and people who have experienced demonic oppression, exploring spiritual warfare and the Church’s response. Father Dan Reehil says Catholics should focus on Jesus and cultivate prayer, obedience, humility, and purity rather than fear the devil. The series began streaming on EWTN+ and EWTN.com on Oct. 28, with its first episode also available on EWTN’s YouTube channel.
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EWTN’s three-part documentary series “In Jesus’ Name” aims to explain the Catholic Church’s rite of exorcism and spiritual warfare through interviews with clergy, theologians, and people who say they experienced demonic oppression. The series began streaming Oct. 28 on EWTN+ and EWTN.com.
Produced by EWTN Studios and Cumberland Creative, the docuseries examines why exorcisms were established, how they are conducted, and how people have found deliverance. It also addresses the reality of evil, biblical teaching on exorcism, and guidance on practices the faithful should avoid.
EWTN Studios president Peter Gagnon said the project was intended to “demystify the rite of exorcism” and present the Church’s response as authoritative and compassionate, rather than sensationalized. The series pairs expert discussion with personal testimony and emphasizes Christian hope and the power of Jesus Christ.
Among the featured clergy are Father Dan Reehil, an appointed exorcist for the Diocese of Nashville; Father Vincent Lampert, who served for nearly 20 years as the Archdiocese of Indianapolis’ designated exorcist; and Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, described in the article as an expert on the history of the Catholic rite.
Reehil told “EWTN News Nightly” that the devil is real, but urged Catholics to focus on God, particularly Jesus Christ. He described prayer, obedience to God, humility, and purity as spiritual tools, and said believers should be aware of spiritual conflict without being afraid. These are Reehil’s theological views as presented in the interview.
“In Jesus’ Name” is available on EWTN+ and EWTN.com. The first episode is also available on EWTN’s YouTube channel.
Catholic theology of spiritual evil, human freedom, and sacramental healing
Catholic theology holds together three truths: evil is real, human freedom is real, and Christ’s saving power is greater than evil. Spiritual evil includes both the disorder of sin and the activity of Satan, whom the Church does not treat as a mere symbol; but neither Satan nor temptation can compel a person’s consent. The Church’s response is therefore neither denial nor panic: it is conversion, prayer, sacramental life, and careful discernment.
Catholic teaching does not portray evil as a rival god or as a power equal to the Creator. Creation is God’s good work; evil is a disorder that arises when creatures turn away from the good. A Catholic catechism describes human freedom as the capacity to choose communion with God or reject it, and says that evil appears when that freedom is abused. Sin can then diminish freedom further by making a person dependent on evil.
The Church also affirms the reality of Satan as a personal spiritual being opposed to God. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith calls the devil “a living spiritual being, perverted and corrupting,” while stressing that his power remains within limits set by God. This does not mean every hardship, illness, intrusive thought, or struggle should be attributed to demonic activity. The Church insists on a critical assessment of such claims and warns that imagination, inaccurate reports, or mistaken interpretations can mislead.
Spiritual evil includes more than dramatic or extraordinary phenomena. It is also present in sin’s damage to our relationship with God, ourselves, other people, and the created world. Vatican II describes human life as a struggle between good and evil and says sin divides a person inwardly and disrupts human relationships. The Church’s central concern is not fascination with the demonic, but liberation from sin and restoration to life with God.
Temptation can exert pressure, deceive, and exploit weakness, but Catholic teaching rejects the idea that it makes a person’s consent inevitable. The CDF states this directly:
Faith assures us that even though the devil is able to tempt us he cannot force our consent.
This protects two truths at once. A person should not use the devil as an easy excuse for choices for which they remain responsible; at the same time, the Church recognizes that people can be pressured, wounded, or drawn into patterns of sin that make freedom harder to exercise. The relevant Catholic response is not fatalism or self-condemnation, but truthfulness, repentance, help, and renewed reliance on grace.
Freedom, in this account, is not simply the ability to do whatever one wants. Its deepest purpose is the capacity to choose God and the good. A choice for the good strengthens freedom; repeated dependence on evil can restrict it. Christian liberation is therefore not merely release from an external force: it is restoration of the capacity to love God and remain in communion with him.
The Church presents Jesus not only as a moral example who resisted temptation but as the Savior who acts against sin and the powers of evil. The Pontifical Biblical Commission points to the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ exorcisms as signs of his authority: people are liberated, healed, and enabled to return to beneficial activity. It connects that liberation with a renewed freedom to choose the good and adhere to God’s will.
The Cross and Resurrection are central to this hope. John Paul II describes Christ’s victory over Satan and sin as accomplished through the Cross, where divine power is revealed not through worldly domination but through Christ’s self-giving and resurrection. Christians therefore struggle against evil with confidence in Christ, not with the belief that they can defeat it by their own force.
This also explains why spiritual struggle is part of ordinary Christian life. The struggle is not evidence that Christ has abandoned someone; Christian teaching says the mystery of evil remains active in the world while Christians are called to persevere in the freedom Christ gives. Prayer, faith, and the practice of the Gospel belong to that struggle.
The supplied Catholic material speaks most directly about Baptism. It describes Baptism as a saving washing that removes the devil’s power insofar as that power would hinder a person from attaining glory. It also discusses preparatory exorcisms connected with Baptism, distinguishing their purpose from the sacrament’s effect. This is a theological account of Baptism’s liberating significance, not a claim that every later struggle means Baptism has failed.
Exorcism, in this account, is prayer of the Church directed against demonic influence; it is distinct from Baptism itself. The Ukrainian Catholic Catechism likewise treats exorcism within the Church’s occasional prayers and teaches that even in possession the person’s image of God cannot be obliterated and that the Church’s prayers can seek liberation. This Eastern Catholic source illustrates the broader Catholic conviction that a person’s dignity is not erased by spiritual affliction.
These claims should not be turned into a diagnosis. The CDF specifically requires prudence and critical examination when demonic intervention is proposed. The available sources do not provide a comprehensive account of how the sacraments of Reconciliation or the Eucharist relate to spiritual and psychological healing, nor do they establish a way to distinguish clinical illness from demonic influence in an individual case. What they do support is a measured approach: take spiritual realities seriously, avoid speculation, and seek the Church’s prayer and guidance rather than treating every difficulty as extraordinary.
In practice, this theology calls for confidence without presumption. A Christian can resist temptation, turn toward God, and ask for help, trusting that evil is not sovereign. The CDF identifies faith and prayer as central to resisting the devil and finding victory through God’s power.
It also calls for responsibility without despair. Human choices matter, but sin’s bondage is not the final word: Christian liberation is grounded in Christ, who restores communion with God and strengthens people to live in freedom. The Church’s understanding of spiritual healing is therefore neither “everything is psychological” nor “everything is demonic.” It is a hope-filled struggle in which Christ’s grace heals and renews, while discernment guards against fear and mistaken conclusions.