Reports that a Saskatoon priest was called to help a man allegedly possessed by demons have triggered questions from a national scientific group.

The Centre for Inquiry, an organization devoted to critical thinking, is calling for an investigation into the prevalence of exorcisms in Canada.

Their call for analysis was spurred on by reports last week indicating that Saskatoon's Roman Catholic Diocese was searching for an exorcist after a woman said her uncle showed signs of being possessed by the devil.

Sometimes symptoms of serious mental illness are misinterpreted as signs of demonic possession, said the Centre for Inquiry's Carmen Finnigan.

"Once upon a time we couldn't understand what was going on in this bit of grey matter here," she told CTV Saskatoon, pointing to her head. "So people had the idea that this was demon possession."

Church officials have said no formal exorcism was performed on the man in question, but blessings were offered until his unusual behaviour ceased.

For its part, the Roman Catholic Diocese in Saskatoon has tried to downplay reports that the church is looking for an exorcist.

"We are seeking as a diocese to determine how to pastorally respond to people in all kinds of situations of mental distress," Bishop Don Bolan told reporters at a Tuesday news conference.

He said the church acknowledges the role of medicine for those struggling with mental illness, and said that prayer can also be part of the healing process.

Bolan balked at questions about the recent case of alleged demonic possession, saying the story should have been a private matter. He did, however, refuse to back down on the church's overall belief in exorcisms.

"In Jesus's ministry, there were exorcisms and so it's not something we can lightly dismiss," he told reporters.

There may be certain circumstances where an exorcism could assist someone with a mental illness, said David Nelson, executive director of the Saskatchewan branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

"In the context of a person's religion or their culture, it might be demonstrated that some sort of intervention, like an exorcism may be some help with that," he told The Canadian Press.

Still, when a loved one begins behaving unusually, he stresses that families shouldn't skip medicine or psychiatry in favour of spirituality.

With a report from CTV Saskatoon's Carla Shynkaruk