The rise of exorcisms.

It is a church sanctioned ritual to cleanse a person's soul, but it's a provocative that is rarely discussed.

Recently, Pope Francis received a great deal of attention when many accused him of performing an exorcism on a men from Mexico.

A country that's also seen a sharp rise in exorcisms as a way to combat the evil violence from drug cartels.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has more on the ritual.

Pope Francis may have opened the door to accepting gay priests during a news conference Monday after telling reporters he won't judge priests based on their sexual orientation.

Pope Francis on gays: `Who am I to judge?'

"If a person is gay and accepts the lord, and has good will, who am I to judge them?" Francis said.

The Pope also said that if a priest has committed a sin, "the Lord forgives and when the lord forgives, the lord forgets, and this is very important for our lives," which of course still leaves being gay as wrong in the eyes of the church.

So is this really a change?

The comments don't reflect an official change in church policy which opposes homosexuality, but is it a significant shift in tone towards accepting gay priests?

Outfront: Father Gary Meier is an openly gay priest in St. Louis, Brian Finnerty is U.S. Communications Director, OPUS DEI and John Avlon is a CNN political contributor.