Albanian Cardinal Simoni, 97, recites Pope Leo XIII’s exorcism prayer at St. Peter’s, a powerful reminder of faith’s fight against evil.
Newsroom (27/10/2025, Gaudium Press ) On October 25, 2025, the hallowed walls of St. Peter’s Basilica reverberated with the solemn words of a 19th-century exorcism prayer, recited by 97-year-old Albanian Cardinal Ernest Simoni Troshani during the traditional Summorum Pontificum Mass celebrated in Latin. The Mass, presided over by Cardinal Raymond Burke, drew the faithful to a moment of profound spiritual significance, as Cardinal Simoni, a living testament to Christian resilience under communist persecution, invoked the prayer of Pope Leo XIII, composed in 1890 to combat the forces of evil.
Cardinal Simoni’s life is a story of unyielding faith amid unimaginable hardship. Born in 1928 in Albania, he was ordained a priest in secret during the country’s brutal communist regime. On Christmas Eve 1963, he was arrested for celebrating an “illegal” Mass, sentenced to death, and later subjected to 25 years of forced labor in mines and sewers. Enduring torture and constant surveillance, Simoni clandestinely celebrated Mass and heard confessions among fellow prisoners. Released in 1981 but still branded an “enemy of the people,” he toiled in Shkodër’s sewers until the regime’s collapse in 1990 allowed him to freely practice his ministry.
Standing before the altar of the Chair of St. Peter, the cardinal who once faced death for his faith delivered Pope Leo XIII’s exorcism prayer with commanding clarity. The prayer, born from a chilling vision in which the pope heard Satan challenge the Church’s endurance, remains a spiritual bulwark for Catholics. “Let us implore the God of peace to crush Satan under our feet, so that he can no longer hold men captive or harm the Church,” Simoni proclaimed. “We drive out from you every impure spirit, every satanic power, every attack of the infernal enemy… in the name and by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
For the faithful gathered in the world’s largest Christian church, Simoni’s words were a stirring call to vigilance. In an era where the supernatural dimension of faith is often sidelined, his invocation underscored the enduring reality of spiritual warfare. The Albanian cardinal’s gesture served as a potent reminder that the battle between good and evil persists—not only in history but in the present, within hearts and the Church itself.
The moment was a testament to the triumph of faith over oppression. Cardinal Simoni, once silenced by a regime that sought to extinguish belief, stood as a beacon of hope, his voice echoing through St. Peter’s as a call to conversion and resilience. His prayer affirmed an unshakable truth for the faithful: victory belongs to Christ, and God has not abandoned His Church.
FLASH ⚡️”Le diable existe, et l’Église combat encore” : un cardinal récite une prière d’exorcisme dans la basilique Saint-Pierre de Rome
🔴 Le cardinal albanais Ernest Simoni, ancien prisonnier du communisme, a invoqué les paroles d’exorcisme composées par le pape Léon XIII en… pic.twitter.com/04wmJcDKZg
— Tribune Chrétienne (@tribuchretienne) October 27, 2025
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Tribune Chretienne
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