Catholic Exorcism

Catholic Exorcism is an app built by the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal in Washington, DC. The Center is a Catholic apostolate focused on deliverance ministry — the work of priests trained to address what the Church calls extraordinary demonic activity. The app is mostly a resource for that work.

The app has three layers. There is a public layer for laypeople: prayers for spiritual protection, articles about deliverance ministry, and a blog the exorcists write called the Diary of an Exorcist. There is a layer for parish priests and ministers who assist in deliverance work — prayers and pastoral resources for that ministry. And there is a password-protected layer with the actual prayers of exorcism, available only to priests who have approval from their bishop.

I appreciate how carefully the Center handles this. The Rite of Exorcism is not a prayer for general use, and the app does not pretend otherwise. The public side of the app sticks to what the Catechism teaches about the devil, what spiritual warfare actually means in a Catholic frame, and the ordinary remedies — sacraments, confession, the rosary, St. Michael. The Ask an Exorcist feature lets you submit a question to the Center's priests.

This is a good fit for priests in deliverance ministry, for laypeople who are reading their way through the topic and want a reliable Catholic source, and for parish leaders who get questions from frightened parishioners and want to know what to say.

It is not an app for someone looking for sensational content or self-administered exorcism prayers. It is also not the right place if you are in spiritual or mental distress and need help today — call your parish priest or a trusted Catholic counselor first. The interface is plain and the content updates are not frequent.

Free, by the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal. Available on the App Store: Catholic Exorcism. A serious app for a serious subject, kept inside the bounds the Church sets.