Pope Francis has continuously been praised for being the most progressive pontiff in years. He has appealed to younger crowds who are faithful, as well as put hope in older practicing catholics.
However, mentions of exorcism in the religion have also been on the rise since cardinals elected Pope Francis.
According to Telegraph.Co.UK, "Dioceses in the UK, Italy, Spain and elsewhere have noticed a dramatic increase in the number of people claiming to be possessed and have responded by training more priests in the dark arts of how to perform exorcisms." The site even reported as recently as January that more Catholic priests are getting trained in exorcising demons.
Now, throughout this week at the Pontifical University of Regina Apostolorum in Rome, an exorcism conference is taking place. According to the Telegraph, nearly 160 priests are attending the event, which has been endorsed by the Vatican.
"Pope Francis talks about the Devil all the time and that has certainly raised awareness about exorcisms," Rev. Cesare Truqui, a Mexican priest trained as an exorcist, told Telegraph. "But all Latin Americans have this sensibility - for them, the existence of the Devil is part of their faith."
In October, Pope Francis said that "those possessed by evil" are should be helped by priests.
"Until a few years ago, a significant number of people in the church didn't believe in the Devil, but people are now going back to the Scriptures," said a British exorcist priest, who talked to Telegraph anonymously. "Pope Francis has given a certain amount of encouragement to that. A few years ago at least half the dioceses in England and Wales did not have an exorcist. Now, pretty much all of them do."
Besides statistical proof, like in Italy where there are now twice the amount of exorcism priests there once were, pop culture is catching on to the trend as well.
The Telegraph points out that films such at "The Rite," as well as the "Paranormal Activity" series, have been successful at the box office. However, exorcism priests warn that not all Hollywood depictions are positive.
According to Independent.Co.UK, at one of the Vatican-endorsed exorcism lectures, priests were warned about vampire movies.
"There are those who try to turn people into vampires and make them drink other people's blood, or encourage them to have special sexual relations to obtain special powers," Professor Giuseppe Ferrari said. "These groups are attracted by the so-called beautiful young vampires that we've seen so much of in recent years."
An exorcism hotline has also been put in place for those who think they or someone they know is being possessed.
