Renowned exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth’s 7 lessons on actions of the devil
Father Gabriele Amorth, Italy’s famed exorcist who died in 2016, is remembered on the 10th anniversary of his death with seven key lessons about the devil he shared during his ministry. He warned that Satan is constantly active, tempts humanity, and is behind all sin, while also emphasizing that the world is under the devil’s power and that false prophets can mislead the Church. Amorth claimed Satan specifically targets the pope, then cardinals, bishops, priests, and religious, urging clergy to engage in a fierce spiritual battle. He praised the intercession of St. John Paul II as an effective weapon against the devil, noting the pope’s role in dismantling communist influence and drawing young people to faith.
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Father Gabriele Amorth, the Italian priest and renowned exorcist who died on Sept. 16, 2016, is being remembered on the 10th anniversary of his death through seven teachings about Satan, temptation, the Church, and spiritual intercession. 1
Amorth taught that Satan is continually active as a tempter and seeks to lead people into sin. At the same time, he emphasized that individuals freely choose their actions, while identifying diabolical possession as an exceptional form of demonic activity. 1
He also described the world as being under the devil’s power and warned about “false prophets,” whom he said could exist both outside and within the Church. According to Amorth, such figures confuse the faithful by presenting worldly ideas as though they represented the Church. 1
Amorth said Satan particularly targets the pope because of the pope’s role as the successor of St. Peter. He extended the warning to cardinals, bishops, priests, and religious, describing them as participants in an intense spiritual struggle. 1
He also said that the devil seeks the destruction of the Church because the Church is “the mother of the saints.” Amorth maintained that the devil attacks the Church through sinful or compromised members, but cannot ultimately overcome the Church itself. 1
The priest added that clergy members remain vulnerable to temptation despite having access to prayer and the sacraments. He said priests can fall into sin just as other people can. 1
Amorth regarded St. John Paul II as a powerful intercessor against the devil. He attributed this view partly to accounts from exorcisms in which Satan was said to fear the former pope because of his role in the collapse of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe and because many young people returned to or deepened their Christian faith through his influence. 1
Amorth identified the Virgin Mary as the most effective intercessor. The article recounts his claim that Satan had told him Mary was feared because being defeated by a human creature would be especially humiliating. 1
Amorth characterized the devil as present in “everything that denies God.” In the examples reported by the article, he included abortion, divorce, homosexuality, satanic rock music, and television programs containing violence and sexual content. 1
The article also recalls an exchange in which a cardinal told Amorth that the devil did not exist. Amorth responded by directing him to the Gospel, presenting belief in the devil as part of Christian teaching. 1
Taken together, Amorth’s seven lessons present Satan as an active force seeking to encourage sin, weaken the Church, and draw people away from God. His stated remedies and sources of protection were the Church, the sacraments, prayer, and the intercession of the Virgin Mary and the saints, particularly St. John Paul II. 1*
Investigate the Catholic Church’s teachings on the devil’s influence
The Catholic Church teaches that the devil is a real, personal spiritual being—not merely a symbol of evil—but that his power is limited, subordinate to God, and unable to compel a person’s free consent. His principal influence is temptation and deception; extraordinary forms of demonic activity are possible but require careful discernment and should never be presumed casually.
Catholic teaching identifies Satan as a fallen creature, a purely spiritual being who opposed God. He is not God’s equal or an independent power. The Catechism emphasizes that Satan’s power is finite: although he can cause grave spiritual and even indirectly physical harm, his activity remains subject to divine providence. He cannot prevent the establishment of God’s kingdom.
The devil is described biblically as a liar, deceiver, murderer, and “the evil one.” The Church understands the final petition of the Our Father—“deliver us from evil”—also as a prayer for deliverance from a personal evil being who attacks humanity.
This does not mean that every evil act or misfortune is directly caused by Satan. Human weakness, disordered desires, social structures, illness, and the consequences of sin have their own reality. The Church rejects both extremes: denying the devil altogether and attributing nearly everything to him.
The devil’s ordinary activity is temptation. According to St. John Paul II, Satan seeks to influence the imagination and higher faculties of the human person so as to turn them against God’s law. His methods include:
The devil may organize and intensify existing sources of evil, but he does not create human freedom or eliminate responsibility. St. John Paul II explicitly states that demonic influence does not abolish human free will or personal responsibility.
Temptation itself is not sin. Sin occurs when a person freely consents to what is known to be wrong. The Church therefore rejects the use of demonic temptation as an easy excuse for immoral behavior. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith insists that Christian teaching must defend human freedom and critically assess claims of demonic intervention.
The devil can tempt, deceive, disturb, and possibly afflict, but he cannot force a person to sin. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states that Satan “cannot force our consent,” and that his power cannot exceed the limits permitted by God.
This limitation is crucial. A person undergoing temptation remains capable of resisting with God’s grace. Even when temptation is intense, the person should not conclude that defeat is inevitable. Christian faith teaches that God offers sufficient help and that Christ’s victory is decisive, even though the struggle continues in history.
Pope Francis summarized this using the image of a chained dog: the devil can threaten and entice, but cannot “bite” those who deliberately move toward him. His practical advice was to keep distance from temptation rather than engaging it curiously or voluntarily.
The Church allows that demonic activity may sometimes go beyond ordinary temptation. The principal categories traditionally discussed are:
The Church does not teach that the soul itself can be owned or deprived of freedom. A historical Catholic theological account distinguishes bodily domination from possession of the soul and maintains that the person’s spiritual freedom is not simply erased.
St. John Paul II acknowledged that demonic influence might, in exceptional cases, affect the human body and result in what is called demonic possession. At the same time, he warned that it is not easy to distinguish genuinely preternatural phenomena from psychological, medical, or other causes, and said that the Church does not readily attribute many phenomena directly to the devil.
Pope Francis likewise noted that, in biblical times, conditions such as epilepsy could sometimes have been confused with possession. This recognition does not justify reducing every Gospel account to illness, but it does require avoiding simplistic judgments about contemporary cases.
The Church requires prudence when demonic activity is suspected. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith compares this assessment to the investigation of miracles: facts must be examined critically, and imagination, exaggeration, unreliable testimony, superstition, and inaccurate interpretations must be resisted.
The Church’s rite of exorcism is not a general remedy for psychological distress or ordinary temptation. The solemn exorcism is a liturgical action entrusted to the Church’s authority and directed toward expelling demons or liberating a person from demonic influence.
The Church’s pastoral practice therefore requires medical and psychological evaluation where appropriate, careful investigation, and authorization by ecclesiastical authority. Claims of possession should never be self-diagnosed merely from disturbing thoughts, unusual experiences, mental illness, trauma, or personal misfortune. The supplied sources support this principle of caution, though they do not provide the full procedural norms governing contemporary diocesan investigations.
The Church’s response is not fascination with demons but fidelity to Christ. Catholics are encouraged to:
The devil is dangerous, but he is not victorious. Christ has already defeated the “ruler of this world,” and the Holy Spirit makes Christ’s victory available to believers. The Christian attitude is therefore neither denial nor panic: it is sober vigilance joined to confidence in God.
In summary, Catholic teaching holds that the devil genuinely influences the world through deception, temptation, division, and possibly extraordinary affliction. Yet he remains a creature, cannot compel consent, and cannot overcome Christ or those who steadfastly seek God’s grace.