By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

The rite of exorcism, more popular in Europe, Africa and Latin America, has largely fallen out of favor in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.

But the few priests in the country trained as exorcists say they have been overwhe lme d with requests from people who fear they are possessed by the Devil.

The demand was so great that American bishops held a conference to help clergy members learn how to distinguish who really needs an exorcism from who really needs a psychiatrist.

“Not everyone who thinks they need an exorcism actually does ,” said Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, who organized the conference. “It’s only used in those cases where the Devil is involved in an extraordinary sort of way in terms of actually being in possession of the person.

“But it’s rare, it’s extraordinary, so the use of exorcism is also rare and extraordinary,” he said. “But we have to be prepared.” Exorcism is as old as Christianity itself. The New Testament has accounts of Jesus casting out demons .

The Reverend Richard Vega, president of the National Federation of Priests’ Councils, said that there eventually could be a rising demand for exorcism because of the influx of Hispanic and African Catholics to the United States.

People from those cultures, he said, are more attuned to the supernatural. The closed-door conference was held in Baltimore, Maryland, before the annual fall meeting of the nation’s bishops. Some Catholic commentators said they were puzzled why the bishops would bother with exorcisms when they are facing crises like parish and school closings, polls showing the loss of one of every three white baptized members, and the sexual abuse scandal .

But to R. Scott Appleby, a professor of American Catholic history at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, the timing made sense. “What they’re trying to do,” said Dr. Appleby, “is to strengthen and enhance what seems to be lost in the church, which is the sense that the church is not like any other institution.

It is supernatural, and the key players in that are the hierarchy and the priests who can be given the faculties of exorcism. “It’s a strategy for saying: ‘We are not the Federal Reserve, and we are not the World Council of Churches. We deal with angels and demons.’ ” Pope Benedict XVI has emphasized a return to traditional rituals and practices, and some observers said the bishops’ interest in exorcism was consistent with the direction set by the pope.

The Vatican has authorized the revival of the Latin Mass, and now a revised English translation of the liturgy, is to be put in use in American parishes next year. The ritual of exorcism is based on a prayer in which the priest invokes the name of Jesus. The priest uses holy water and a cross, and can alter the prayer depending on the reaction of the possessed person, said Matt Baglio, a journalist in Rome who wrote the book “The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist.”

“The prayer comes from the power of Jesus’ name and the church. It doesn’t come from the power of the exorcist. The priest doesn’t have the magic power,” said Mr. Baglio, whose book is being made into a movie . There is plenty of cynicism about exorcism. Mr. Baglio noted that hucksters prey on vulnerable believers, causing them physical or spiritual harm. With so few priests who perform exorcisms, and the stigma around it, exorcists are not eager to be identified. Efforts to interview them were unsuccessful.

Some of the classic signs of possession by a demon, Bishop Paprocki said, include speaking in a language the person has never learned; extraordinary shows of strength; a sudden aversion to spiritual things like holy water or the name of God; and severe sleeplessness, lack of appetite and cutting, scratching and biting the skin. A person who claims to be possessed must be evaluated by doctors to rule out illness, according to Vatican guidelines issued in 1999, which superseded guidelines issued in 1614. Bishop Paprocki noted that the Devil is a real and constant force - though few people will require an exorcism to handle it.

“The ordinary work of the Devil is temptation,” he said, “and the ordinary response is a good spiritual life, observing the sacraments and praying. The Devil doesn’t normally possess someone who is leading a good spiritual life.”