Cardinal Simoni Troshani Delivers Exorcism Prayer in St. Peter’s Basilica, by Michael J. Matt

By Michael J. Matt – @Michael_J_Matt – 6:17 PM · Oct 26, 2025

Cardinal Delivers Exorcism Prayer in St. Peter’s Basilica:

Something else happened yesterday at the Summorum Pontificum Traditional Latin Mass in the Basilica of St Peter (October 25, 2025) that strikes me as significant. Among the well-known prelates in attendance at the Latin Mass celebrated by His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke was the renowned exorcist, Cardinal Ernest Simoni Troshani, who at 97 years of age stood at the pulpit and positively thundered an Exorcism prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII back in 1890.

Who is Cardinal Simoni Troshani?

Cardinal Simoni is an Albanian cardinal, born October 18, 1928, who according to his entry in the College of Cardinals Report, spent “eighteen years in jail at the hands of Albanian communists.” After having completed his seminary study clandestinely, he was ordained a priest on April 7, 1956. But on Christmas Eve 1963, after celebrating an “illegal” public Mass, Simoni was arrested and imprisoned.

Initially, he was sentenced to death for offering the Mass (the TLM at that time), but the sentence was later commuted to twenty-five years of hard labor. During his years of imprisonment, Simoni endured “torture and harsh conditions, including work in mines and sewage canals.” Far from being intimidated by the threat of torture, he secretly celebrated the Latin Mass from memory and heard the confessions of his fellow prisoners.

After his release in 1981, according to the College of Cardinals Report, Cardinal Simoni was still considered an “enemy of the people” and was thus forced to work in the Shkodrë sewers. Nevertheless, he continued to exercise his priestly ministry clandestinely until the fall of the communist regime in 1990.

Fast-forward to present day.

This heroic priest – once sentenced to death for celebrating the Mass – took part in yesterday’s Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage. From the sanctuary of the Altar of the Chair, His Eminence delivered an exorcism prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII on May 18, 1890. The prayer was composed after Pope Leo had overheard a conversation between God and the Devil, just after offering Mass, in which the Devil bragged that he could destroy the Church in one hundred years. Fearful for souls and for the life of the Church of which Leo was visible head, the Holy Father composed the Exorcism prayer, which was recommended by the Church whenever any acts of the Devil are suspected.

Here is an excerpt from the Exorcism Prayer prayed yesterday in St. Peter’s:

“Beseech the God of Peace to crush Satan under our feet, that he may no more be able to hold men captive and to harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that the mercies of the Lord may quickly come to our aid, that thou mayest seize the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan. . . We cast you out, every unclean spirit, every satanic power, every onslaught of the infernal adversary, every legion, every diabolical group and sect, in the name and by the power of our Lord Jesus + Christ.”

Momentous things are happening, friends. This is a war between God and Satan, and many have only recently begun to understand the scope of it. So let us join this Holy War with the tools and the armor of God’s soldiers. Keep offering prayers of reparation and petition, that God will protect us and Holy Mother Church against the fires of Hell. Especially on this great Feast of Christ the King, let us offer prayers of thanksgiving for the good shepherds—the generals in this army—whom God, in His Providence, has seen fit to grant us. The mere existence of such men proves, once again, that God has not abandoned His Church.

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