Pope Francis told
participants at an Apostolic Penitentiary course on Friday that
a good confessor should not be afraid to call in an exorcist
when needed. "Discernment is needed because those who go to the confessional can come from the most disparate situations," he said.
"They may have spiritual disturbances, the nature of which must be subjected to careful discernment, taking account of all existential circumstances - ecclesiastic, natural and supernatural.
"When a confessor realises that there are full-blown spiritual disturbances... he must not hesitate to refer to those in the diocesis tasked with this delicate and necessary task, the exorcists".