The Church and the Devil

During the course of Blessed Paul VI’s pontificate there was a timely question raised regarding the greatest need of the Church today. The answer he gave is not that simplistic or superstitious and unreal. The greatest need of the Church today, Blessed Paul VI said, is the defense from the evil that we call the devil. 

St. John Paul II reiterated the same sentiment during his visit to the Sanctuary of St. Michael the Archangel on May 24, 1987. He said, “The battle against the devil, which is the principal task of St. Michael the Archangel, is still being fought today, because the devil is still alive and active in the world.”          

Pope Benedict XVI during the Angelus address on February 17, 2013 talked about the influence of the devil on modern society and on our lives, clearly indicating that the devil is a malign influence behind the ascendancy of secularist atheism and the secularist agendas and policies being pursued. He said, “The tempter is cunning. He does not directly impel us towards evil but rather towards a false good, making us believe that the true realities are power and everything that satisfies our primary needs. In this way God becomes secondary, he is reduced to a means; in short, he becomes unreal, he no longer counts, he disappears.”     

Despite these messages of the previous pontiffs, there is an inconvenient reality happening right now. Many in the Catholic Church either deny the existence of the devil, or tend to see him as someone that cannot interact in a major way in man’s day-to-day living. Lay Catholic preacher Bo Sanchez spoke about his experiences in certain theological schools in our country regarding this unbelief of religious and Church people in the existence of the devil.      

Fr. Jose Francisco Syquia, Chief Exorcist of the Archdiocese of Manila, in his book Exorcism: Encounters with the Paranormal and the Occult stresses the grand strategy of Satan in today’s modern world—to make man believe that he does not exist. That somehow explains why Christians never put up a fight or establish any form of defense against him. Many even end up, he said, blaming God for their miseries because of unawareness of the hidden enemy striking them in the many areas of their lives. “Part of the difficulty of resisting demonic attacks is that most of them are not recognized as such even by many Christians,” explained Fr. Benedict Heron, OSB in his book I Saw Satan Fall. He continued, “He [Satan] is normally happier not to be recognized but to work in a hidden and secret way—there is less danger of stirring up opposition if he is unrecognized.”

Because of the wickedness of our times, extraordinary demonic assault cases are on the rise—infestation, oppression, obsession, and possession. Fr. Carl Vogl in his documentary Be Gone Satan!, tells us that “it is precisely through the cooperation of sinners that the devil has such power on earth.” 

The challenge for us now is to wake up to the reality of the existence and malevolent action of the devil in our world and take action against him, our enemy since the time of our first parents. Let us heed Blessed Paul VI’s exhortation: “We must fight against spirits, the spirits that swarm all around us. In other words, we must fight against the demon… this dark and disturbing being truly exists and is still active with predatory cunning. He is the hidden enemy who sows error, misfortune, decadence, and degradation in human history.”   

The Second Vatican Council in the document Gaudium et Spes reminds us all that this battle against the fallen angels will last until the end of time. The Post-conciliar document Christian Faith and Demonology adds that it would indeed be a fatal mistake to act as if history is already finished and redemption had achieved all its effects, and that it would no longer be necessary to engage in the struggle of which the New Testament and the masters of the spiritual life speak.

We, as Catholics, must always be prepared to enter into the midst of this spiritual battle. As Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR and Randall J. Cirner in their book Deliverance from Evil Spirits would say, "There is no room for compromise, no basis for peaceful coexistence. There  can only struggle and opposition... God calls his people to attack the kingdom of darkness and to further the kingdom of light. Man is born into then midst of this struggle; by its very nature he must fight in it. No one can escape from it. Every man and woman must choose whom they will serve."

I would like to end this one with the words from the Evening Prayer Hymn of Friday Week III in the Liturgy of the Hours, "Choose we now in freedom where we should belong, let us turn to Jesus, let our choice be strong."