Francis: Satan is not a Diffuse Concept, He is a Person

While many refuse to recognize this reality, the Church maintains that the devil exists and that his work continues. Presented as a “fallen angel” by Scripture and Tradition, the devil is a spiritual and personal being. The devil is in no way a “god of evil” who coexists with a “god of good”: he is a creature of God, and cannot stop His kingdom from being built.

He is “a very intelligent person,” added the pope, explaining that for this reason, if we listen to him, “you’ll be lost.” 

No one should believe himself safe from the devil’s attacks, recalled the Holy Father: Satan can even seem “polite” “with priests and bishops” in order to get closer to them. “That’s how he enters your mind. But it ends badly if you don’t realize what is happening in time,” he warned. 

This is not the first time the Argentinian pope has spoken of the devil’s presence in the world. During the Mass he celebrated in memory of Fr. Jacques Hamel whose throat was slit in his church by two jihadists on July 26, 2016, the pope recalled that “Satan, begone!” were the priest’s last words.