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In Italy, the number of official exorcists has soared during the last 20 years to between 300 and 400, church officials say. But they aren't enough to handle the avalanche of requests for help from hundreds of tormented people who believe they are possessed. In the United States, the shortage is even more acute.

Only a small percentage of those in distress are judged to be in need of an exorcism, and learning how to tell the difference between demonic possession and other psychological or physical traumas is the main goal of the priestly students taking the course at the Regina Apostolorum.

"When you're dealing with a reality like the devil," said 39-year-old Father Clement Machado of Canada, "you can't just learn the theoretical. You need the pragmatic experience…. It's such uncharted territory."

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Father Gabriele Nanni, an exorcist from Modena, told the students that doctors could be consulted to determine whether physical or psychological causes were behind a patient's distress. The symptoms of demonic possession, he said, include utter revulsion to holy symbols, such as a crucifix or baptismal oils. Sometimes, he said, the patient enters a deep trance.

The cleansing ritual, he told students, must be kept simple, with much prayer and without pride in one's accomplishments.

"An exorcism is tantamount to a miracle — an extraordinary intervention of God," Nanni said. "It's not that we poor men are so powerful to be able to banish the devil. It's that God gives us the power."

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The symptoms of demonic possession, he said, include utter revulsion to holy symbols, such as a crucifix or baptismal oils. Sometimes, he said, the patient enters a deep trance.

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"An exorcism is tantamount to a miracle — an extraordinary intervention of God," Nanni said. "It's not that we poor men are so powerful to be able to banish the devil. It's that God gives us the power."

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