Catholic exorcist Carlos Martins warned that mainstream cinema overlooks the true psychological terror of spiritual warfare, focusing on visual shock value rather than the inner hostility driving malevolent forces. The priest and podcast creator Ryan Bethea detailed their experiences during an interview published on Friday (9) with reporter Jasmine Baehr, examining the hidden dynamics behind official Church interventions and the release of the third season of their audio documentary series.

According to Martins, who has worked as an active exorcist for almost two decades, cinematic productions routinely mislead audiences by highlighting physical spectacles like flying furniture and levitation while ignoring the underlying animosity toward humanity and the divine. “The thing that Hollywood doesn’t pick up well is the demonic mind,” Martins said. “It picks up [the devil’s] demonic power well, throwing of chairs, the screaming, levitating and so on and so forth. But his rage, his inner anger, his disgust with humans and God, that it doesn’t get well.”

Carlos Martins details flawed intelligence and ritual realities

During one major exorcism session where he assisted a colleague, Martins recalled an individual threatening that his scheduled commercial airline flight would be bombed the following morning. The priest rescheduled the flight to remain for additional sessions, and the individual showed visible bewilderment when Martins walked back into the room the next day. Martins explained that while demonic intelligence is formidable, it remains limited and imperfect, lacking universal foresight.

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Martins emphasized that formal Catholic rites diverge completely from aggressive confrontations shown on screen, functioning instead as systematic, tranquil spiritual processes centered on prayer and personal reconciliation. “I never yell at the devil. I’ve never heard of an exorcist doing that,” Martins said, pointing out that an exorcist does not seek to engage in theatrical combat. “The job of the exorcist is not to cast out the devil,” the priest added, noting that the goal is to discern why an entity claims influence over a person and to restore that individual to communion with Christ through established liturgical prayers.

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The production team behind the podcast dramatizes documented archives using binaural three-dimensional audio, drawing from real ecclesiastical files. Bethea noted that examining case histories across decades helped him develop greater spiritual confidence rather than fear, explaining that he walked away feeling less scared and more confident than ever. Both hosts urged listeners to avoid spiritual practices such as astrology, tarot readings and divination games, which they consider spiritual entry points.

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Key verified milestones and figures associated with the production include:

• 3rd season of the audio series launched on Monday, October 5, 2026, opening with the episode titled The Wolf and The Wound.
• 1973 mark when the classic film The Exorcist established cinematic tropes of levitation and rotating heads.
• 3 documented cases reviewed in the production that originated from the direct use of Ouija boards.
• Hundreds of years covered in an upcoming season episode investigating an alleged multi-generational affliction within a single family.

Canon law protocol and unverified personal testimonies

Under the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church, diocesan bishops hold the authority to appoint priests to perform major exorcisms, mandating rigorous medical and psychiatric evaluations to rule out physical or mental illnesses before any spiritual rite takes place. The procedure requires priests to serve an informal apprenticeship alongside veteran practitioners, learning diagnostics and pastoral care prior to leading cases on their own.

Regarding holiday practices, Martins explained that ordinary traditions like trick-or-treating remain harmless for children as long as costumes avoid demonic themes or celebrations of evil. Specific anomalous physical claims described by Martins, including a flight threat and an account of canine teeth appearing to stretch several inches during a rite, remain based solely on his personal testimony without independent empirical verification.

New weekly episodes of the audio project will continue their scheduled broadcast run across streaming platforms through December 2026.