A well-known Catholic exorcist is warning that spiritual attacks against individuals and families appear to be increasing, pointing to the growing influence of occult practices and serious sin in modern culture.
Father Chad Ripperger, a priest widely known for his work in deliverance ministry, recently discussed the topic during an interview on The Shawn Ryan Show. According to LifeSiteNews, the exorcist explained that many priests involved in spiritual warfare are witnessing a notable rise in cases of diabolical influence.
“The amount of oppression is drastically on the rise,” Fr. Ripperger said, attributing the trend largely to the increasing involvement of people in occult practices.
He described demonic oppression as a form of spiritual attack that affects a person from the outside rather than directly controlling the mind or body. These attacks can manifest in different ways, sometimes targeting a person’s livelihood, property, or relationships.
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“This includes things like destroying people’s finances,” Ripperger explained, noting that some individuals experience unexplained disruptions such as being “blocked from getting paid,” according to LifeSiteNews. In other cases, he has observed unusual patterns of property damage, such as multiple household appliances failing one after another in families experiencing oppression.
The priest also said that spiritual attacks can sometimes affect relationships. He cited examples where couples who previously had strong marriages suddenly find themselves experiencing serious conflict with no clear natural cause.
Another factor contributing to oppression, he said, is the use of curses by occult practitioners. These rituals intentionally invoke demonic forces to harm a specific individual.
Ripperger also warned that sinful behavior can make people more vulnerable to such attacks. According to LifeSiteNews, he pointed to pornography as a major concern, particularly content that has been intentionally cursed.
“One of the primary ways we see an increase in oppression is guys watching pornography that’s been cursed, and then they bring that into their family,” he said.
The priest explained that some forms of media have historically been subjected to occult rituals intended to increase their influence. According to LifeSiteNews, Ripperger said that Satanists in earlier decades taught figures in Hollywood that “if you curse the master copy, all of the subsequent copies made from that will bear the curse and it can influence people.”
In the case of certain forms of media, he suggested that these curses can make the material more addictive for viewers or listeners.
Fr. Ripperger noted that demonic influence can occur at several levels. Beyond oppression, there is also what he called diabolic obsession, which affects a person’s thoughts and emotions through intense and intrusive disturbances.
According to LifeSiteNews, the priest said that exorcists generally estimate that roughly a quarter of the population may experience some form of demonic obsession that cannot be explained solely by psychological causes.
However, he emphasized that curses and spiritual attacks typically require some form of vulnerability in a person’s life. This vulnerability can arise through grave sin or other weaknesses.
At the same time, the priest encouraged Catholics not to lose hope. Prayer and the sacramental life remain powerful protections against spiritual harm. Fr. Ripperger noted that individuals can pray for protection against curses and ask God to break any that may already have been directed against them.
His comments serve as a reminder of the Church’s longstanding teaching that spiritual warfare is a real dimension of the Christian life—and that faith, repentance, and prayer remain the strongest defenses against the influence of evil.
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