Exorcist Father Dan Reehil Calls the Devil the Original Influencer

After Pope Leo XIV hosted an exorcist summit at the Vatican this month, we held our own conference with renowned exorcist Father Dan Reehil ... and he tells us the Devil is real -- and definitely busy!

Reehil stopped by "TMZ Live," telling us there was a big spike in demonic activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused significant concern about the global rise in Satanism.

He said, "During COVID, the cases tripled, and I think that was primarily because the churches were shut down, people were locked up at home with idle time on their hands to do nothing but get into mischief and the cases skyrocketed."

So how does Reehil distinguish the Devil's work from just the general, if escalating, toxicity of our era? Reehil says they're one and the same.

"You can say he's the original influencer," Reehil told us. "He influences people to do terrible things, and that's where the real problem is."