(ZENIT News / Rome, 03, 11.2026) – Below is a press release from the International Association of Exorcists regarding false collaborators of the Association’s late founder, Father Gabriele Amorth.
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Father Gabriele Amorth, founder of the International Association of Exorcists, whose tenth death anniversary we will celebrate on September 16 of this year, promoted, as we know, intense informative and performative activity regarding the practice of exorcism. His theological-pastoral-experiential reflection on demonology was transmitted through channels and instruments that made it accessible and understandable to all: books, interviews given on both television and radio stations, presentations at conferences, videotapes, CDs, and, finally, the monthly program he presented on Radio Maria, entitled «Racconti di Un Esorcista» («Tales of an Exorcist»), published later as a book.
Father Amorth’s communication style, both as a writer and lecturer, was wise and very simple, to the point that even a non-specialist audience could understand him. He spoke of everyone as a friend, always with a smile on his lips, a ready joke, and with the affable Emilian cadence. Unfortunately, some people, especially in the last years of his life, took advantage of Father Amorth’s kindness and availability, even going so far as to impersonate his collaborators and attribute to him interviews, books, and Facebook pages of which he had no knowledge. In fact, it was precisely for this reason that he wrote a warning letter to the members of the International Association of Exorcists, which he founded, and which was published in Circular Letter No.70, of June 2016.
Therefore, the International Association of Exorcists urges people not to trust those who still claim to have been close collaborators of Father Gabriele Amorth, showing or publishing photographs taken with him or videos to falsely attest to such a role.
It should also be noted that some of Father Amorth’s considerations regarding these instrumentalizations were expressed in these firm words in a text edited by Elisabetta Fezzi, entitled La Mia Battaglia con Dio Contro Satana* (My Battle with God Against Satan):
«Unfortunately, there are also people who say, ‘I have received the powers of Father Amorth, I am in contact with Father Amorth …’ and that is not true. I cite the case of a boy, who has undoubtedly come a few times to pray during my exorcisms, who says he knows me, who lays hands on people, who makes gestures he shouldn’t make, who suggests the words of the exorcism to the Father who gives the blessings in the convent […] There are many who consider themselves my spiritual children because they began by attending a series of my exorcisms, then became exorcists themselves, and found it very useful to have participated. But I would never dare to say, ‘Such a person is my spiritual child,’ I wouldn’t dare. Some may have learned something from what I did and then had their own personal experience.» [1]
To dispel any doubt and in the hope of putting an end to these regrettable events, we reproduce below the text of Father Gabriel Amorth’s letter of May 13, 2016, which was published in June of that same year in the International Association of Exorcists’ Internal Circular Letter, on pages 5-6. We also reproduce a copy of the original text of his signed letter.
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Dear Priests and Assistants of the International Association of Exorcists:
I am increasingly aware that a growing number of people — priests and laypeople — are presenting themselves in the press and on the Internet as if they were close collaborators of mine. Sometimes these are people with whom I have only met for an interview and a blessing, and who have subsequently asked to have their picture taken with me or to record a video, only to then publish these photos and videos on the internet in order to claim they are my collaborators, when in reality they are not; they have even attributed words to me that I never said.
Sometimes books have even been published attributed to me, but I never directly contributed to their writing and only became aware of them after they were published. There are even Facebook pages that I never managed and for which I am not responsible, and which do not explicitly deny my authorship.
Statements attributed to me have also been frequently disseminated, but which I never actually made, or which have been presented in a distorted way or taken out of the general context of the speech I gave. Thus, they lost their meaning.
Even the catechesis sessions or prayer retreats that I led in some homes have occasionally been exploited for personal gain and published online to lend credibility and publicity to the group that invited me.
I have also received reports of charitable organizations that bear my name and present themselves as having been founded or approved by me, of which I, however, had no knowledge whatsoever.
I declare that my close collaborators — who are very few and trustworthy — do not appear in public nor advertise themselves by taking advantage of my name, but rather live with extreme reserve and discretion. Therefore, I urge you to be wary of anyone who presents themselves as if authorized by me, and also to be wary of Websites that present themselves as managed by me or of publications attributed to me, but which I have never authorized explicitly or known, except after they were made.
Rome, May 13, 2016 Father Gabriele Amorth, SSP
[1] Father Amorth, with E. Fezzi, La Mia Battaglia con Dio Contro Satana, Ed. San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo (MI), 2017, 58;85.
