The church-recognised association is increasingly observing "magical markets", fortune-telling events and witch festivals organised by communities and cultural associations around religious, seasonal and civic holidays.
According to the AIE website, the media and social networks contribute to the spread of such legends. Although this is economically lucrative, it distorts the historical truth.
As a concrete example, the AIE cited the village of Calcata in the Lazio region, which was given a new lease of life by artists in the 1970s.
It has since become famous for the tale of the "Borgo delle streghe" (witches' village) - based on what the association claims are unsubstantiated reports of alleged esoteric energies, ancient cult centres and supernatural phenomena.
Although such claims can be found in articles and tourist brochures, they have no historical basis. Nevertheless, they attract many visitors, especially at Halloween.
Moral dimension
The AIE emphasised that this development goes beyond purely cultural phenomena and also has a pastoral and moral dimension, which is of particular concern to pastors and exorcists. Even good intentions to revitalise local economies could not justify people being led astray by invented spiritual content.
The International Association of Exorcists has existed since 1994; the Vatican officially recognised the association in 2014. According to its own information, the association has around 900 active exorcists and 130 auxiliary exorcists.
The founder of the Associazione Internazionale Esorcisti was the priest Gabriele Amorth, who died in 2016. His life provided the template for the fictional horror film "The Pope's Exorcist " ("The Pope's Exorcist", 2023).
Exorcism is the ritual expulsion of evil powers and spirits from people, living beings or objects.
Such practices exist in many cultures and are intended to serve holistic cleansing and healing.
The Catholic Church understands it as a request to God to free people from the power of evil.