Pope Francis stated that the devil always “tries to attack everyone and sows discord, even in the Church, trying to pit some against others.”  

He reiterated this in an unprecedented interview in the book “Esorcisti contro satana” (“Exorcists Against Satan) by publisher Piemme and written by journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona, which will be released in Italian bookstores from April 11, 2023.  

The text of Marchese Ragona’s interview begins with the account of the possession of a nun. The demonic voice said of the Pope: “I hate him, and he always speaks ill of me. Have you seen how many problems I create for him?”  

Below are some critical points in the Fight against the Devil, according to Pope Francis:  

1) Prayer is powerful against the devil  

The Holy Father admits that he does not know the case of the possessed nun, but it is not surprising that the devil is upset because he tries to follow the Lord and do everything that the Gospel teaches. “And that bothers him. At the same time, he is certainly happy when I sin. He seeks the failure of man but has no hope if there is prayer,” he confirms.  

2) Distinguishing between “diabolical obsession” and “possession”  

The Pope asks that exorcisms be performed by “specialist” priests. He mentions that when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he had received several cases of people who claimed to be possessed. “I sent them to consult with two good ‘specialist’ priests: they are not healers, but exorcists,” he recalls. In this sense, he refers to the work of Fr. Carlos Alberto Mancuso, the official exorcist of his Archdiocese, and Fr. Nicolás Mihaljevic, a Jesuit born in Croatia in 1924, who was his confessor and who passed away on July 2, 2014.  

It is precisely Fr. Mancuso who narrates in the book “Mano a mano con el diablo” (2012) that “the devil attacks with a will to do harm and with terrible claws, which, in a way, remind me of electricity: they are invisible but tangible and can move the world.”  

The Pontiff recognizes that the cases of actual possessions in his previous diocese were fewer than they seemed at first: “Only two or three were victims of demonic possession. The others suffered from diabolical obsession, which is a very different thing because they did not have the devil in their body,” he explains.  

Saint Paul VI, Benedict XVI, and other successors of Peter have suffered attacks from the Devil, according to the book’s author. The famous phrase of Pope Montini is well known: “The smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.”  

3) The Devil can also act in the Vatican and attack the Pope  

“Certainly, the Devil tries to attack everyone, without distinction, and tries to strike especially those who have more responsibility in the Church or society. Jesus also suffered the temptations of the Devil, and let us also think of those of Simon Peter, to whom Christ said: ‘Get behind me, Satan’,” explains the Holy Father.  

“In the same way, the Pope is attacked by the evil one. We are men, and he always tries to attack us. It is painful, but he has no hope in prayer,” he adds. Meanwhile, he notes that “it is true, as San Paolo VI said, that the devil can enter the temple of God to sow discord and to set some against others: divisions and attacks are always the work of the devil.”  

The Pontiff explains that the devil “always tries to insinuate himself to corrupt the heart and mind of man. The only salvation is to follow the path indicated by Christ.”  

4) Be careful with “educated demons”  

The Pope points out that Jesus protects against the attacks of the Devil, who often presents himself in a sly and educated way. “I believe that there are very dangerous demons, and I am referring to ‘educated’ demons. Jesus also speaks of them, as we read in the Gospel of Luke: he says that when the evil spirit is driven out, he wanders through the desert looking for relief. But there comes a time when he gets bored and goes back ‘home,’ from where he had been expelled, and sees that the house is fixed up, it is beautiful, just as it was when he was inside,” he adds.  

5) The Devil attacks through spiritual worldliness  

Pope Francis explains that demons attack in groups when they can’t do it alone. “He goes to look for other demons worse than himself, brings them, they enter the house, politely, ring the bell, take possession politely.”  

“The soul, for not taking care to examine conscience, doesn’t notice them. Or because of spiritual lukewarmness, it lets them in. These are terrible because they kill you, and it’s the ugliest possession,” he emphasizes. And it’s that “spiritual worldliness covers all these things. There’s no escape: the Devil either destroys directly with wars and injustices, or he does it politely, very diplomatically, as Jesus says. Discernment is needed,” he adds.  

When the Pope made headlines for allegedly performing an exorcism, Pope Francis, like his predecessors, preached against the Devil, who “tries to poison each of us with attachment to things.” Perhaps he is one of the Pontiffs who has mentioned the word “demon” or “evil” most in modern times in his homilies.  

Likewise, as the 266th Successor of Peter, he officially recognized the International Association of Exorcists before the then Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Clergy in June 2014. The Holy Father made international news because he allegedly performed an exorcism on a person supposedly possessed in St. Peter’s Square on May 19, 2013, Pentecost Sunday.  

Without mentioning this case, Marchese Ragona asks him, “And as Pontiff, have you ever practiced exorcisms?” to which he replies, “No, never. If it happened, I would ask for the support of a good exorcist, as I did when I was archbishop.”