"Christian Faith and Demonology" (1975). A Reminder.

Saint Michael Crushes And Chains The Devil GN 2026

Recently I came across a document that reads as if most of it was written only yesterday. Though only a portion of the work is here presented and commented upon, a reader could do well by accessing the entire work. The composition points out contemporary challenges that needed to be addressed, but also notes that a certain naïveté had taken hold, blinding some to the reality of and need for spiritual warfare. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Christian Faith and Demonology (Fede Cristiana Demonologia)

L’Osservatore Romano, English Edition, July 10, 1975, pp. 6-10. This text was first published in Italian (Fede Cristiana Demonologia) in L’Osservatore Romano, Italian Edition, June 26, 1975, pp. 6-7. The original text was published in French in L’Osservatore Romano, French Edition, July 4, 1975.

• https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19750626_fede-cristiana-demonologia_en.html

Said document begins:

The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has commissioned an expert to prepare the following study, which the Congregation strongly recommends as a sure foundation for the reaffirmation of the teaching of the Magisterium on the theme: Christian Faith and Demonology.

The many forms of superstition, obsessional preoccupation with Satan and the demons, and the different kinds of worship of them or attachment to them have always been condemned by the Church. It would therefore be incorrect to hold that Christianity, forgetful of the universal Lordship of Christ, had at any time made Satan the privileged subject of its preaching, transforming the Good News of the Risen Lord into a message of terror. Speaking to the Christians of Antioch, Saint John Chrysostom declared: 

“It certainly gives us no pleasure to speak to you of the devil, but the teaching which this subject gives me the opportunity to expound is of the greatest use to you." 

In fact it would be an unfortunate error to act as if history had already been accomplished and the Redemption had obtained all its effects, without there being any further need to conduct the combat spoken of by the New Testament and the masters of the spiritual life.

 A present-day difficulty

This scorn could well be today’s error. On many sides, in fact, people are asking whether there should not be a revision of doctrine on this point, starting with the Scriptures. Some hold that it is impossible to take any standpoint. Asserting that Scripture does not permit an affirmation to be made either for or against the existence of Satan and the demons, they imply that consideration of the question could be suspended. More often the very existence of the devil is frankly called into question. Some critics, believing that they can define Jesus’ own position, claim that none of his words guarantees demonic reality. They assert that affirmation of the existence of this reality, where it is made, rather reflects the ideas of Jewish writings, or is dependent on New Testament traditions, but not on Christ. Since it does not form part of the central Gospel message, the existence of demonic reality, they say, no longer has a call on our faith today, and we are free to reject it. Others, who are at the same time both more objective and more radical, accept the obvious sense of the statements about demons in the Scriptures, but they immediately add that in today’s world such statements would be unacceptable, even for Christians. And so they too discard them. For still others, the idea of Satan whatever its origin may have been, has lost its importance. If we were to continue to insist upon it, our teaching would lose all credibility. It would cast a shadow over our teaching about God, who alone merits our attention. For all the above, finally, the names of Satan and of the devil are only mythical or functional personifications, the significance of which is solely to underline in a dramatic fashion the hold which evil and sin have on mankind. They are only words, which it is up to our times to decipher, even at the cost of having to find another way of inculcating into Christians the duty of struggling against all the forms evil in the world.

Similar ideas, repeated with a wealth of learning and spread by journals and some theological dictionaries, cannot fail to disturb people. The faithful, accustomed to take seriously the warnings of Christ and of the apostolic writings, feel that this kind of teaching is meant to influence opinion. Those among them who are knowledgeable in the biblical and religious sciences wonder where this demythologizing process entered upon in the name of hermeneutics will lead.

Recall for a moment that the document was published in 1975, at a time that might be referred to as an era in which Satan had convinced many that he does not exist - a cunning strategy only the Father of Lies, a fallen angel, could have devised. And, given a widespread loss of the sense of sin and the loss of many souls to despair, one might say the devil's gambit has proven quite effective. Nevertheless, the Christian knows that God is supreme and brings good out of the satanic chaos.

"More often the very existence of the devil is frankly called into question. Some critics, believing that they can define Jesus’ own position, claim that none of his words guarantees demonic reality."

An elaboration (at Anobii) of Fede Cristiana Demonologia reads:

Satan's ability in the world is to induce men to deny his existence in the name of rationalism and any other system of thought that seeks all the loopholes in order not to admit his work... By rejecting the known truth about God by an act of his own free will, Satan becomes a cosmic "liar" and a "father of lies" (Jn 8:44). For this reason he lives in the radical and irreversible denial of God and seeks to impose on creation, on other beings created in the image of God, and in particular on men, his tragic "lie about the Good" that is God. Evil is no longer just a deficiency, but an efficiency, a living, spiritual, perverted and perverting being. Terrible reality. Mysterious and scary. Those who refuse to recognize the existence of the terrible, mysterious and fearful reality of Evil leave the framework of biblical and ecclesiastical teaching; or those who make it a principle in its own right, not having its origin from God with every creature, or explain it as a pseudo-reality, a conceptual or fantastic personification of the unknown causes of our ailments.

Fede Cristiana Demonologia briefly puts forth then contemporary debates regarding the existence of Satan and demons, highlighting various perspectives. It documents that some people argue (wrongly) that Scripture is ambiguous, suggesting a suspension of the issue, while others question the reality of evil beings, claiming it reflects Jewish and New Testament traditions rather than Christ's teachings. Additionally, it states that some believe that such concepts undermine the credibility of core Christian teachings about God. The text emphasizes that these personifications of evil may serve to illustrate sin's impact on humanity. Furthermore, it notes that the demythologizing trend was causing concern among faithful Christians who valued traditional interpretations of Scripture.

For this post, a section of Fede Cristiana Demonologia about the Liturgy offers context in addressing attempts to strip the Faith of its mystery, which might still be relevant today. The ongoing presence of a demythologized—or perhaps desacralized—Liturgy suggests it’s the result of a generation addicted to lackluster worship. Is the Liturgy itself at fault, whether due to weak language, missing elements, or a tendency toward interpretations that water down the power of the Faith? Or were Catholics - are Catholics still? - prancing about holding to a caricature of religion? A previous generation seemed overwhelmingly content with the banal and a comfortable religion that reinforced complacency when faced with a challenge.

Strong men make for good times. Good times make for weak men. Weak men make for bad times. Bad times make for strong men. G. Michael Hopf, "Those Who Remain"

And liturgy? Beautiful liturgy makes for strong faith. Strong faith makes for true families and authentic culture. True culture angers the devil. The devil tempts people into comfortable religion. Comfortable religion makes for satanic culture. Satanic culture is chaos. God sees chaos and raises up saints to wage spiritual war against comfortable religion. We all know what happens to those who stand up for the Faith and face corrupt officials and systems.

The Common Teaching of the Popes and the Councils

[...] To commit sin after Baptism is once more “to abandon oneself to the power of the devil” (102). This is in fact the early and universal belief of the Church. From the first centuries; it is attested to in the liturgy of Christian initiation, at the moment when the catechumens, just before being baptized, renounced Satan, professed their faith in the Blessed trinity and expressed their adherence to Christ their Saviour (103).

It is for this reason that the Second Vatican Council, which concerned itself more often with the present condition of the Church than with creation, did not fail to warn against the activity of Satan and the demons. Once more, as at Florence and Trent, it recalled, with the Apostle, that Christ “takes us out of the power of darkness” (104). Summarizing Scripture in the manner of Saint Paul and the Book of Revelation, the Constitution Gaudium et Spes stated that our history, universal history, “is a hard struggle against the powers of darkness, a struggle begun with the beginning of the world and one which will continue, as the Lord says, until the last day” (105). Elsewhere, Vatican II repeated the admonitions of the Letter to the Ephesians to “put on the armour of God so as to resist the wiles of the devil” (106). For, as the same Constitution reminds the laity, “we have to fight against the rulers of this dark world, against the spirits of evil” (107). It is not surprising finally to note that the same Council, wishing to emphasize that the Church is truly the Kingdom of God already begun, appeals to the miracles of Jesus and for this purpose makes explicit reference to his exorcisms (108). It was on this occasion, in fact, that Jesus made the celebrated statement “then the Kingdom of God has come upon you” (109).

The Liturgical Argument

As regards the liturgy, to which we have already referred in passing, it provides a special testimony, because it is the concrete expression of faith that is lived. We must not however look to it to satisfy our curiosity about the nature of the demons, their categories and their names. The liturgy contents itself with insisting upon their existence and the threat which they constitute for Christians. This is its task. Being founded upon the teaching of the New Testament, the Liturgy directly echoes this teaching when it declares that the life of the baptized is a combat, conducted with the grace of Christ and the power of his Spirit, against the world, the flesh and demonic beings (110).

Side note: "Being founded upon the teaching of the New Testament...". The teaching of the New Testament, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is embodied in the Sacred Liturgy. Before the writings that now constitute the Canon of the New Testament, the Liturgy was the home wherein disciples encountered the Eucharistic Jesus, listened to the word of God (Jesus the Eternal Word speaking through the four Gospels and the writings of the Apostles, the writings of the Old Covenant, and to listen to those who witnessed the Resurrection), met Jesus in the person of the priest, and celebrated the living God in the company of the holy angels as the congregation in whom Jesus is present (St Matthew 18:15–20). To be clear, the Mass embodies the New Covenant, is founded upon and in the New Covenant, and the Sacred Liturgy is His life, death (sacrifice) and resurrection really present.

The revised Liturgy

Today, however, this liturgical argument must be used with care. On the one hand, the Eastern rituals and sacramentaries, which in the course of the centuries have been subject more to additions than to suppressions, risk leading us astray. Their demonologies are richly developed. As for the Latin liturgical documents, which have been frequently recast in the course of history, they warrant that we be equally prudent in drawing conclusions, precisely in view of these changes. Our old ritual of public penance forcefully expressed the influence of the devil on sinners: unfortunately, these texts, which have survived till our times in the Pontificale Romanum (111), have in practice long ceased to be used. Until 1972 one could also quote the prayers for the recommendation of the soul. They evoked the horror of hell and the final attacks of the devil (112). But these significant passages have now disappeared. Above all, in our days the characteristic ministry of the exorcist, while not having been altogether abolished, is no more than a very occasional service, and can be exercised in fact only at the request of the bishop (113). Nor is any rite laid down for its conferral. Such a provision obviously does not mean to imply that the priest no longer has the power to exorcise, nor that he no longer has to exercise it. However, it does force one to conclude that the Church, by ceasing to make a specific function of this ministry, no longer attaches the same importance to exorcisms as in the early centuries. This development certainly deserves to be taken into consideration.

A rather naive assumption led to a terrible vulnerability. Many souls have been placed at risk by a liturgical and catechetical curriculum (or lack thereof) that unintentionally yet inevitably created a vacuum into which many strange and even dangerous ideas entered into the conversation without critical assessment (1 John 4:1).

We should not however conclude that in the field of liturgy there has been a diminishing or revision of belief. The Roman Missal of 1970 continues to echo the Church’s conviction about the activity of the devil. Today, as in the past, the liturgy of the first Sunday of Lent reminds the faithful how the Lord Jesus overcame the tempter. The three Synoptic accounts of the temptations occur in all three cycles (A, B and C) of the Lenten readings. The Proto-evangelium foretelling the victory of the descendants of the woman over those of the serpent (Gen 3, 15) is read on the tenth Sunday of Year B and on the Saturday of the fifth week. The feast of the Assumption and the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary contain a reading from the Book of Revelation (12, 1-6), which describes the threat of the dragon against the woman giving birth. Mark 3, 20-35, which gives the discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees about Beelzebul, forms part of the readings for the tenth Sunday of Year B, already mentioned above. The parable of the cockle and the good seed (Mt 13, 36-46) is given on Tuesday of the thirteenth week. The proclamation of the defeat of the prince of this world (Jn 12, 20-33) is read on the fifth Sunday Of Lent in Year B, and Jn 14, 30 occurs during the week. From the apostolic texts, Eph 2, 1-10 is assigned to Monday of the twenty-ninth week; Eph 6, 10-20 to the Common of the Saints, and likewise to Thursday of the thirteenth week, the First Letter of Saint John 3, 7-10 is read on 4 January, and on the feast of Saint Mark we have a reading from the First Letter of Saint Peter describing the devil going about seeking whom he may devour. This list of references, which is not exhaustive, attests to the fact that the most important passages still form part of the official reading of the Church.

Since the Council, one might argue that despite claims that there’s been no decline or change in belief within the liturgy, shortcomings have emerged, leading to a noticeable weakening of faith and alteration of belief. For many, Catholicism has become an ego solus—“me alone” or "just me" faith—where they pick and choose what suits their own personal needs. Thankfully, a younger generation, or at least a significant number of young people, seeing in their own generation the dangers of adopting deadly ideologies that has led to innumerable casualties among their peers, and therefore are no longer drones in an age of rebellion, are aligning themselves with truth, goodness and beauty.

Words from Compline: Brethren: be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist, steadfast in the faith. 1 Peter 5:8-9

 

It is true that the ritual for the Christian initiation of adults has been modified on this point. It no longer addresses the devil with words of command. But for the same reason it addresses God in the form of prayers (114). The tone is less spectacular, but just as expressive and effective. It is therefore wrong to say that exorcisms have been abolished from the new ritual of Baptism. Indeed, the extent of the error is clear from the fact that the new ritual of the catechumenate has instituted, before the ordinary, so-called “major” exorcisms a series of “minor” exorcisms, which are spread throughout the entire duration of the catechumenate and which were previously unknown (115). Thus exorcisms still remain. Today as yesterday they seek victory over Satan, the devil, the prince of this world, the power of darkness. And the three customary “scrutinies”, in which they have the same place as before, have the same negative and positive purposes as previously, namely, “to free from sin and from the devil” just as much as “to make strong in Christ” (116). The celebration of the baptism of infants also retains, whatever may be said, an exorcism (117). This in no way means that the Church considers these infants as being possessed, but she does believe that they too need all the effects of Christ’s redemption. In fact before baptism everyone, child or adult carries the sign of sin and of the influence of Satan.

"The tone is less spectacular, but just as expressive and effective."

Really? And what about the trend of Catholics adopting worldly practices like contraception, abortion, sexual behaviors conflicting with God's design, identity politics, neo-socialism, and euthanasia? One could argue that the rapid rise of the culture of death over the past 60 years confirms a diabolical influence of epic proportions. The fact that so many self-proclaimed Catholic politicians have contributed to the rise of a culture of death suggests a gap in spiritual formation, with that same dark influence seeping into the lives of those who, like wolves among sheep, have sown confusion and offered a weakened testimony to the Gospel.

Traditionalists who examine the Novus Ordo liturgy, or the Ordinary Form of the Mass, sometimes overlook the complete teachings of the Second Vatican Council. In doing so, they can end up resembling their opposites—zealous liturgiphobes who despise older rites or anything traditional, and see nothing worthwhile in the new Mass.

A responsible reading of the Council's documents requires a more sophisticated analysis that considers how the new Mass conforms to the intentions of the Council Fathers and where, indeed, the suppression of venerable texts has led to a banalization of the sacraments and a loss of faith. Even though the source document mentioned above misses the chance for Latin, Byzantine, and other Catholics to share ideas, it’s worth noting that all orthodox Catholic traditions enrich and even correct each other when the Church breathes with both lungs—a truth Pope Saint John Paul II reminded us of 22 years ago in his encyclical “Ut Unum Sint.”

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Aristotle

Annibale Bugnini, a name well known among critics of the new Mass, was the secretary of the Concilium charged with the liturgical reform in the wake of the Council. To the Bugnini Concilium's mind, or perhaps to Bugnini's mind, repetition in the Liturgy was undesirable and, ironically, they/he forgot the need for making more accessible the treasury of scripture that the Church possesses (cf. Dei Verbum) about evil. Looking back, more texts urging the storming of the gates of hell during a time of rebellion would have been a good idea. Even today, many hesitate to speak out against wrongdoing. Political pressure to go along with irrational socio-political narratives often comes in the form of threats to one’s reputation or even job loss for refusing to promote harmful ideologies disguised as compassionate policies.

Repeating certain parts of the Liturgy, especially those that equip Christians with a reason for the hope within them (1Pt 3:15), turns out to be far from unnecessary, especially considering the decline in spiritual literacy among Catholics. Repetition (of text and gesture) builds spiritual strength by enhancing a sacramental formation, i.e., the formation of people who are sacramentals, so-to-speak, of the Faith, icons of Jesus. It’s no surprise, then, that from the late 1960s well into the early 2000s, many clergy and laypeople, deprived of an authentic and wholistic formation, and thus lacking focus, vitality and integrity, often sought consolation and meaning in the wrong places in (diabolical) ways that consequently seriously harmed many young people. Fidelity to God plummeted; fidelity to religious and matrimonial vows plummeted. Innocence was assaulted.

Hearing the same readings on the same days each year—especially those that awaken a deep sense of sin and the need for the Savior—nurtures literacy, which in turn fosters familiarity, confidence, and a strong sense of identity. Singing the same texts on those same days further strengthens the Catholic’s vocabulary and alignment with truth and virtue.

Looking back over the past few decades, Catholics have struggled most with issues of literacy that impacts confidence and identity. It’s no surprise the New Evangelization has been slow to gain momentum when such essential elements are missing from our experience.

Thankfully, renewal founded upon a precise knowledge of history and tradition and listening to the Holy Spirit has appeared on the horizon. We see many signs of renewal and they all have in common those vital elements: spiritual literacy marked by a serene and confident immersion in and commitment to truth, goodness and beauty.