Father Luis Ramirez Almanza is running an exorcism training course in Rome in May, and he’s giving it a very 2026 theme. He wants clergy and faith leaders thinking about artificial intelligence as a tool that can be used in spiritual warfare. It’s not limited to Catholic clergy, either. Reporting says he’s inviting rabbis, imams, and evangelical pastors to attend, basically pitching a rare interfaith training built around a shared enemy.
As reported by The London Times, Almanza promoted the course at a press conference and described AI as “a great power, a force for both good and evil, and can therefore be used for devil worshipping.” He’s not saying a chatbot is possessed. He’s warning that the tech can amplify whatever people already want to do, including the darker corners of occult communities online.
The course takes place at the Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum, a Vatican-affiliated school that has hosted this training for years. It’s also worth saying what it is and what it isn’t. Attending doesn’t make you an official exorcist. In the Catholic Church, that appointment still comes from a bishop. The program positions itself as serious instruction, with lectures meant to help participants separate spiritual crises from mental health conditions, scams, and internet-fueled panic.
The AI concern shows up in the specifics, and some of them are grim. Father Fortunato Di Noto, a Sicilian priest known for work against child sexual abuse, told reporters that some satanic groups are experimenting with AI tools. “We believe these groups are using AI to generate images of children involved in satanic rites,” he said. He described it as a way to exercise power “over the innocent.” The last thing we need to hear more about right now.
A cult researcher cited in the reporting, David Murgia of Catholic Risk and Insurance Services, described a different angle. He said police have warned that these groups use AI to cloak what they share and to communicate in ways that are harder to spot. The biggest worry is scale. Digital communities already thrive on anonymity, symbolism, and provocation. Generative tools make that easier and faster.
This is also happening while the Vatican keeps raising broader alarms about AI’s ability to scale harm. At a Vatican seminar, Bishop Paul Tighe warned about threats including “biological weapons, propaganda, disinformation, and systems which are beyond human control.”
Call it devil worship or call it a digital underground, the concern is the same: AI gives fringe communities better tools to create and communicate. The course is a sign that the Church is taking that seriously, even if the language makes outsiders roll their eyes.
The post Exorcists Are Concerned People Are Using AI for Devil Worship appeared first on VICE.
