Pope Warns of Satanic Surge: Vatican Scrambles to Train ‘Army of Exorcists’

A chilling claim out of Rome is turning heads — insiders say Pope Leo XIV has been urged to ramp up a global force of trained exorcists as top clerics warn of a disturbing rise in alleged demonic activity.

According to reports circulating inside the Vatican, the Chicago-born pontiff was briefed during a closed-door meeting on March 13 by leaders of the International Association of Exorcists (AIE), a little-known but powerful group dedicated to training priests in the ancient rite of exorcism.

The warning? Church officials claim cases tied to the occult — and what they describe as “the extraordinary action of the devil” — are becoming more widespread and more intense.

During the high-level meeting inside the Apostolic Palace, Bishop Karel Orlita and Father Francesco Bamonte reportedly told the pope that priests around the world are facing “unprecedented challenges” when dealing with suspected demonic influence.

Their solution is raising eyebrows: they say every parish should have access to a trained exorcist.

“People are being seriously affected,” the clerics warned, pointing to increased involvement in occult practices and underground sects as a possible cause.

The AIE, founded in 1994, has quietly operated for decades training clergy in how to perform exorcisms — a ritual many believe belongs to another era. But insiders say demand for their expertise is growing fast.

The group even gained mainstream attention after inspiring the 2023 film The Pope’s Exorcist, starring Russell Crowe — but behind the Hollywood dramatics, church insiders insist the concerns are very real.

Fueling the alarm are statistics and cultural shifts that some religious leaders say can’t be ignored.

In the United Kingdom, official data showed a staggering 167 percent increase in people identifying as satanists between 2011 and 2021. At the same time, more parents have reportedly chosen the name “Lucifer” for their children — a trend critics call unsettling.

Meanwhile, the Satanic Temple — a U.S.-based organization focused on secularism and personal freedom — has grown to more than 100,000 members since its founding in 2013.

As interest in alternative spiritual movements rises, traditional religious affiliation appears to be slipping. In the United States alone, the percentage of adults identifying as Catholic has dropped from roughly 24 percent to 20 percent over the past two decades.

For some within the Church, that shift is more than just cultural — they see it as opening the door to darker forces.

“The spread of occultism… opens doors and windows,” Bamonte reportedly warned, suggesting it can lead to extreme cases described by the Church as possession, obsession, or spiritual torment.

Whether skeptics see it as fear-driven rhetoric or believers view it as a spiritual crisis, one thing is clear — behind the Vatican’s ancient walls, the battle between faith and darkness is being taken more seriously than ever.