Catechesis of Paul VI from 15/11/1972:

The catechesis on the reality of the devil given by Pope Paul VI at the general audience is very important.
from Wednesday, November 15, 1972, published the next day in the 'Osservatore Romano'. Let's see the
clarity and courage with which the Pope addresses this dark topic in this already famous catechesis:

What are today's greatest needs of the Church? Do not be surprised if it seems simplistic, or even
how superstitious and unreal our response is: one of the greatest needs is the defense against that evil
that we call the Demon.

Before clarifying our thoughts, we invite yours to open up to the light of faith regarding the
vision of human life, a vision that expands immensely from this observatory and penetrates into
singular depths. It is the picture of creation, the work of God, which God himself, as an external mirror
of his wisdom and power, admired in his substantial beauty (Cf. Gen. 1:10, etc.)

The painting of the dramatic history of humanity is very interesting, from which the history of the
redemption, that of Christ, that of our salvation, with its wonderful treasures of revelation, of prophecy, of
holiness, of life elevated to a supernatural level, of eternal promises (Cf. Eph. 1:10).

If we know how to observe this picture, we cannot help but be enchanted (Cf. St. Augustine, Soliloquies): everything has

in a sense, everything has an end, everything has an order and everything reveals a Presence-Transcendence, a
Thought, a Life, and finally a Love, so that the universe, for what it is and for what it is not,
presents itself before us as an exciting and intoxicating preparation for something even more beautiful and perfect

(Cf. 1 Cor. 2:9; 13:12; Rom. 8:19-23).

The Christian vision of the cosmos and of life is therefore triumphantly optimistic, and this vision justifies our
joy and our recognition for being able to live, for which, celebrating the glory of God, we sing
our happiness (Cf. The “Gloria” of the Mass).

Biblical Teaching

But is this view complete? Is it accurate? Do the deficiencies we find in the world matter at all?
Do the dysfunctions of things regarding our existence? Pain, death? Evil, cruelty, the
sin, in one word, evil? And do we not see how much evil there is in the world? Especially how much moral evil,
simultaneously though in diverse ways, against man and against God? Is this not a sad spectacle,
an inexplicable mystery? And are we not precisely those, as cultivators of the Word and singers of Good,
we believers, the most sensitive, the most troubled by the vision and experience of evil? We find it
in the kingdom of nature, where many of its manifestations seem to denounce the existence of a
disorder. Later we find it in the human realm, where we observe weakness, fragility, the
suffering, death, and something worse, a law with a double contrast, which on one hand desires good, and on the other
is devoted to evil, this torment that St. Paul highlights to demonstrate the necessity and
the luck of a saving grace, that is, of the health brought by Christ (Cf. Rom. 7); already the pagan poet had
denounced this inner conflict rooted in the very heart of man: I see better things and approve of them, but I deteriorate

I follow (OVID, Met. 7, 19). We encounter sin, the perversion of human freedom, and the cause
deep of death, as separation from God, source of life (Rom. 5:12), and, in turn, occasion and effect
of an intervention in us and in our world by a dark and enemy agent, the Devil. Evil is not
It is not just a deficiency, but an efficiency, a living being, spiritual, perverted and perverter. Terrible reality.
Mysterious and fearsome.
Whoever refuses to acknowledge its existence steps outside the framework of biblical and ecclesiastical teaching; just as they step out

also one who makes of her an autonomous principle, something that does not have its origin, like every creature, in God; or

who explains it as a pseudo-reality, a conceptual and fantastic personification of the causes

The problem of evil, seen in all its complexity and its absurd nature concerning our rationality.
unilateral, it becomes obsessive. It constitutes the greatest difficulty that appears in our religious understanding.
from the cosmos. Not without reason, Saint Augustine pleaded for years: I sought where evil came from, and there was no exit, I was searching

from where evil came and could find no explanation (St. Augustine, Confessions VII,5, 7, 11, etc.; PL,32, 736,
739).

Here, then, is the importance of becoming aware of evil for our correct Christian conception.
of the world, of life, of salvation. Christ himself has made us aware of this importance. Firstly,
in the development of the evangelical story at the beginning of his public life: Who does not remember the very dense page

of the meanings of Christ's triple temptation? Later, in the many gospel episodes in which the
the demon crosses the path of the Lord and appears in His teachings (for example, in Matthew 12:43-45: "When the
Unclean spirit leaves the man, wanders through arid places seeking rest, but finds none.
Then he says: 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And upon arriving, he finds it empty, swept, and in order.
Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that man

man will be worse than the beginning. Thus it will happen to this evil generation as well.

And, how can one not remember that Christ, referring to the devil three times as His adversary, qualifies him as
"prince of this world"? (John 12:31: Now is the judgment of this world; now the Prince of this world will be
cast out; John 14:30: I will no longer speak much with you, for the Prince of this world is coming.
In me, he has no power. John 16:11: For the prince of this world is judged.) The invading reality
of this nefarious presence is indicated in many passages of the New Testament. Saint Paul calls it
"God of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), and warns us about the struggle in the darkness that the
Christians must uphold not only with one demon but with a terrible plurality of it: the apostle says in the
letter to the Ephesians 6:11-12: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

that our struggle is not against flesh and blood (only), but against the principalities, against the
powers, against the rulers of this dark world, against the evil spirits in the air.

And it is not just one demon, but many, as indicated by many gospel passages (Luke
But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
God”. Mark 5:8-9: “For he had said to him, ‘Unclean spirit, come out of this man.’ And he asked him, ‘What is your name?’
Your name? He replies: "My name is Legion, for we are many"; but the main one is one: Satan.
what adversary means, the enemy; and with him many, all creatures of God, but degraded, for they have
they are rebels and condemned, a whole mysterious world, disturbed by an unhappy drama of which we know
very little.

The Hidden Enemy That Sows Error

We know, however, many things about this devilish world that concern our lives and all of history.
human. The demon is at the origin of humanity's first misfortune; he was the deceitful and fatal tempter.
of the first sin, original sin (Genesis chapter 3). Since that fall of Adam, the devil acquired a
certain dominion over man, from which only the redemption of Christ can free us. It is a history that lasts
still: let us remember the exorcisms of baptism and the frequent references of the Holy Scripture and of the
Liturgy to the aggressive and oppressive "power of darkness" (Luke 22:53). It is the number one enemy, the
the ultimate tempter. We thus know that this dark and disturbing being really exists, and that it still acts with
treacherous cunning; it is the hidden enemy that sows errors and misadventures in human history. We must
remember the revealing evangelical parable of the wheat and the tares, summary and explanation of the illogical character that

it seems to preside over our contrasting vicissitudes (Matthew 13:28: "The enemy of man has done this"). It is the
"murderer from the beginning... and father of lies" as Christ defines it (John 8:44); is the one who schemes
sophisticatedly the moral balance of man. He is the perfidious and cunning charmer, who knows how to insinuate himself into

we through the senses, through fantasy, through desire, through utopian logic, or through
disordered social contacts in the game of our actions, to introduce harmful deviations into it
as we conform in appearance with our physical or psychic structures, or with our instinctive aspirations
and deep.

All this regarding the Devil and his influence, which he can exert both on people and in the
communities and entire societies or daily events, would be a very important chapter for
re-examine in Catholic doctrine, although in truth little is done about it today. Some believe that
they find sufficient compensation in psychoanalytic or psychiatric studies, or in experiences
spiritualists, so widespread today in some countries. There are fears of falling back into ancient Manichean theories, or in

terrifying fantastic and superstitious ramblings. Today regarding this, men prefer to appear strong and
unprejudiced, presenting themselves as positivists, although afterwards they lend an ear to so many gratuitous things

preconceptions with magical or popular hues, or worse yet, they open their own soul - their own baptized soul,
visited so many times by the Eucharistic presence and inhabited by the Holy Spirit! - to licentious experiences of
the senses, or to the most harmful of narcotics, as well as to the ideological seductions of the
fashion errors, turning them all into cracks through which the Evil One can penetrate
easily to alter human mentality. We do not say that every sin is directly due to the action
diabolical (Cf. S. TH. 1, 104, 3); however, it is true that whoever does not watch over themselves with a certain moral rigor
(Cf. Mat. 12:45; Ef. 6:11) exposes itself to the influence of the mystery of iniquity, to which Saint Paul refers (2 Thess. 2:3-

12), and which makes the alternative of our salvation problematic. Our doctrine becomes uncertain,
darkened by the same shadows that surround the Devil. But our curiosity, stirred by certainty
from its multiple existence, it becomes legitimate starting from these two questions: Are there signs, and which ones, of the

Presence of the diabolical action? And what are the means of defense against such an insidious danger?

Presence of the Action of the Evil One

The answer to the first question imposes great caution, despite the fact that the signs of the Evil One sometimes seem

to become evident (Cf. TERTULL.Apol.23). We could assume its sinister action wherever the denial of
God becomes radical, subtle and absurd, where lies are hypocritically and strongly asserted against the truth.
evident, where love is extinguished by a cold and cruel selfishness, where the name of Christ is challenged with
conscious and rebellious hatred (Cf. 1 Cor. 16:22; 12:3), where the spirit of the Gospel is mystified and denied,
where despair asserts itself as the last word, etc. But this is a diagnosis that is too broad and
difficult, that we do not dare now to delve into and authenticate, although it is not devoid of interest
dramatic, to which modern literature has also dedicated famous pages (Cf. For example, the works of
Bernaos, studied by CH. MOELLER, Literature of the 20th century, I, p. 397 etc.; P. MACCHI, The face of evil in
Bernanos; see also Satan, Carmelite Studies, Desclée de Br. 1948). The problem of evil remains as one
of the biggest and most enduring problems for the human spirit, even after the victorious response
What Jesus Christ gives us: "We know, the Evangelist St. John writes, that we are of God, and that the world
the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One" (1 John 5:19).

The Defense of the Christian

To the other question: what defense, what remedy can be opposed to the action of the Devil? The answer is more
easy to formulate, although it remains difficult to put into practice. We could say: everything that we
Defending against sin also protects us from the invisible enemy. Grace is the decisive defense.
innocence takes on an aspect of strength. And we all remember how much the apostolic pedagogy has symbolized in
the armor of a soldier the virtues what they can to return invulnerable to theCristiano
The Christian must be a true militant; he must be strong and
vigilant (1 Peter 5:8); and must sometimes resort to special ascetic exercises to ward off certain incursions
diabolical; Jesus teaches this, indicating the remedy 'through prayer and fasting' (Mark 9:29). And the Apostle suggests

The master line to maintain is: 'Do not be overcome by evil; rather, overcome evil with good.'
(Rom. 12:21; Mt. 13:29).

Therefore, with the awareness of the adversities present in which the souls currently find themselves, the
Church and the world, we will seek to give meaning and effectiveness to the usual invocation of our main
Our Father,... deliver us from evil!