Gabriele Amorth

"I have no doubt about the fact that the demon tempts the authorities of the Church especially, just as he tempts every authority, those of politics and industry."

"Prayer at distance rarely has a liberating effect. In itself, it is possible to attempt prayers at distance, but whether they take root is another matter. One of the requirements for doing exorcisms is in fact that the person is present, and that he or she is consenting. Doing exorcisms on someone who is neither present nor consenting nor Catholic presents difficulties. I have no doubt, however, that Hitler was a Satanist. From this point of view, I am not surprised that Pius XII might have attempted an exorcism at distance. [The Führer's possession emerges from his] humanly inexplicable perfidy: one cannot explain such wickedness without a higher force and outside human nature."

"Once I asked Satan: ‘But why are you more afraid when I invoke the Madonna than when I invoke Jesus Christ?’ He replied: ‘Because it humbles me more to be defeated by a human creature than to be defeated by Him.’"

"I speak with the Devil every day. I talk to him in Latin. He answers in Italian. I have been wrestling with him, day in day out, for 14 years."

"When I hear people say, “You Catholics honour Mary too much,” I reply, 'We are never able to honour her enough."

"Demons are wary of talking and must be forced to speak. When demons are voluntarily chatty it's a trick to distract the exorcist. We must never ask useless questions out of curiosity. We but must interrogate with care. We always begin by asking for the demon's name."

"During the exorcism the evil may emerge in slow stages or with sudden explosions. He does not want show himself. He will be angry and he is strong. During one exorcism I saw a child of 11 held down by four strong men. The child threw the men aside with ease. I was there when a boy of 10 lifted a huge, heavy table. Afterwards I felt the muscles in the boy's arms. He could not have done it on his own. He had the strength of the Devil inside him."

"No two cases are the same. Some patients have to be tied down on a bed. They spit. They vomit. At first the demon will try to demoralise the exorcist, then he will try to terrify him, saying, 'Tonight I'm going to put a serpent between your sheets. Tomorrow I'm going to eat your heart'."

"We are living in an age when faith is diminishing. If you abandon God, the Devil will take his place."

"Remember, when we jeer at the Devil and tell ourselves that he does not exist, that is when he is happiest."