Demand for exorcisms skyrocketing – US priest

There has been a 650% increase in the number of trained exorcists in the country, Father Chad Ripperger has said

The demand for exorcisms in the US has skyrocketed in recent years, leading to a significant increase in the number of priests trained to perform the ritual, a leading Catholic exorcist has revealed. 

Speaking to the New York Post, Father Chad Ripperger of the Archdiocese of Denver stated that the Catholic Church currently has around 150 priests in the US who can perform exorcisms. In 2020, there were only about 20 priests trained in the practice, marking a whopping 650% increase in just a few years.

However, Ripperger argued that the phenomenon reflects a rise in human sinfulness and occult involvement rather than an increase in demonic activity.

“The demons are empowered as more and more people commit evil deeds,” the priest said, pointing to voluntary engagement in Satanism or witchcraft as a key factor making individuals susceptible to demonic influence. At the same time, he noted that only “about 10% of cases are as dramatic as portrayed in Hollywood.”

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Reverend Dan Todd, a trained exorcist in New Jersey, also told the New York Post that while “the devil is out there,” about 99% of cases are due to mental illness, adding that psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder can often mimic demonic possession.

The surge in demands for exorcisms has become so pronounced that Pope Leo XIV convened a summit of the world’s most senior exorcists at the Vatican earlier this month. At the meeting, the International Association of Exorcists warned the pontiff of a global rise in “occultism, esotericism, and Satanism” and called for every diocese worldwide to have trained exorcists. 

More than 300 exorcists gathered last year for the 15th International Conference of Exorcists, reflecting what participants describe as a coordinated and expanding international ministry.

The trend has not been limited to the US. In Russia, the occult services market has recently ballooned to an estimated $24 billion annually, with Russians spending as much on “sorcerers” and fortune-tellers as on groceries. 

READ MORE: Russian MP ‘declares war’ on ‘esoteric’ services

The Russian Orthodox Church has warned against performing or seeking such rituals, demanding that Satanism be legally prohibited as well as the advertisement of “occult magic services.” Last year, the Russian Supreme Court officially banned the ‘International Satanist Movement’ as an extremist organization.