Livescience.com: Pope Francis recently expressed his approval of a group of exorcists meeting at the Vatican this week. While exorcisms, in which demonic spirits are driven out of a supposedly possessed person, may seem a dark practice relevant only on TV screens, they have long been recognized by the Catholic Church and several religions.

This week, more than 300 members of the International Association of Exorcists are attending the convention, which is focused on the impact of the occult and Satanismon people today, The Catholic Sun reported.

The IAE was founded in 1990 byFather Gabriele Amorth, exorcist for the diocese of Rome, and was formally recognized by the Vatican this past June. [Spooky! The Top 10 Unexplained Phenomena]

 Priests who pursue the ministry of exorcism “manifest the Church’s love and acceptance of those who suffer because of the devil’s works,” Pope Francis wrote in a message to the association’s president, Father Francesco Bamonte, Breitbart reported this week. The Holy See’s approval of the International Association of Exorcists was “cause for joy not only for the association, but for the whole Church,” Bamonte said.

The belief that demons exist and can possess people features in many religions, including Christianity. Exorcisms date back to the time of Jesus, who according to the Bible, “cast out demons.”

Exorcism is “a highly unusual ministry for a situation in the human condition, which is quite rare, but it’s growing in frequency,” said Father Dwight Longenecker, a parish priest at Our Lady the Rosary in Greenville, South Carolina, who is not an exorcist, but supports the practice.

“Exorcism is a little bit like brain surgery in the spiritual realm,” Longenecker told Live Science. Real exorcisms aren’t quite as dramatic as Hollywood films such as “The Exorcist” would have you believe, but such movies do portray a version of events that actually happen, he said.

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