In 1986, Father Gabriel Amorth, a priest for over 30 years, became an official exorcist. Since then, he claims to have performed over 50,000 exorcisms and to speak (and wrestle) with the Devil everyday. He founded the International Association of Exorcists, and is honorary president for life.

Amorth had never thought much of exorcism before 1986, when he was assigned to assist the famous exorcist of Rome, Father Candido. Amorth says from that point on, he realized how much work must be done, how few exorcists there were to do it, and how he must dedicate his life entirely to exorcism. He learned how to differentiate between physical or mental illness and genuine possession, and he found out quickly that no two cases were ever the same. During his tenure as an exorcist, Amorth authored two books on the subject, which do include references to official Roman Catholic beliefs on demonology, but mostly deal with his own experiences.