Question 8.132

8.132 Since the beginning of his pontificate, Francis has frequently spoken about the existence of the devil. Isn’t that a rather difficult subject to understand?

Revelation teaches us with certainty about the existence of evil spirits who oppose God by refusing to serve him and who incite men to rebel against God. The devil is the one who divides, who sets men against one another.

There is no better way to understand the existence of the devil than through his works. Like all spirits, he is not visible. Moreover, Satan loves nothing so much as the darkness in which he lies; the more hidden the devil, the more effective he is.

The prince of this world can be recognized also by all the temptations into which we fall. Through the Scriptures we know that he tempted Christ. Saint Luke writes as follows: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”’ And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.”’ And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written, “He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,” and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”’ And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time” (Lk 4:1-13).

I would like to quote also words by Paul VI, spoke on June 29, 1972, during a Mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica. The pope did not hide his pain and anguish: “Given the situation in the Church today, we have the impression that through some cracks in the wall the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God: it is doubt, uncertainty, questioning, dissatisfaction, confrontation. There is no confidence in the Church. Instead people put their trust in the first secular prophet who comes along to talk to us about a newspaper editorial or a social movement, and they run after him to ask him whether he has the formula for true life, ignoring the fact that we already have it, that we are the owners of that formula. Doubt has entered our consciences, and it entered through windows that should have been open to the light. Science exists to give us truths that do not separate from God, but make us seek him all the more and celebrate him with greater intensity; instead, science gives us criticism and doubt. Scholars are those who more thoughtfully and more painstakingly exert their minds. But they end up teaching us: ‘I do not know, we do not know, we cannot know.’ The school becomes the gymnasium of confusion and sometimes of absurd contradictions. Progress is celebrated, only so that it can then be demolished with the strangest, most radical revolutions, so as to negate everything that has been achieved and to become primitives again after having so exalted the advances of the modern world. In the Church, too, this state of uncertainty prevails; it was thought that after the Council a day of sunshine would dawn for the history of the Church. What dawned instead was a day of clouds and storms, of darkness, of searching and uncertainties. We preach ecumenism, but we constantly separate ourselves from others. We seek to dig abysses instead of filling them in. How could that have happened? There has been an intervention of an adverse power. Its name is the devil, this mysterious being to whom Saint Peter also alludes in his Letter. How many times Christ speaks to us in the Gospel about this enemy of men! We believe in the action of Satan, who is active today in the world precisely to disturb, to suffocate the fruits of the Ecumenical Council, and to prevent the Church from breaking into the hymn of joy at having renewed in fullness her awareness of herself. This is why we wish, today more than ever, to be able to perform the duty entrusted by God to Peter, to strengthen our brothers in the faith. We wish to communicate to you this charism of certitude that the Lord gives to the one who represents him on this earth, however unworthily. Faith gives us certitude, assurance, when it is based on the Word of God and is accepted and acknowledged as being in conformity with our reason and our human soul.”

Saint John Vianney rightly said that “the Holy Spirit dispels the mists that the devil puts ahead of us to make us lose the way to heaven.”

And so it is important for dioceses to have well-trained priest exorcists, imbued with sanctity and protected by Mary’s virginal mantle. The manifestations of the devil are very significant and widespread today. Under his influence, yesterday’s sins have become virtues. The devil is finally celebrating because he is making substantial gains. We must not have any doubt, however, because the definitive victory will be for God alone. Saint Matthew records these magnificent words that Christ spoke to Peter: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18).

God promised us victory over the forces of evil. Our hope must remain strong.