Pope Paul VI and the Smoke of Satan

Donald McClarey - Smoke of Satan

I have long heard about Pope Paul VI having referred to the “smoke of Satan” having entered the Church.  Usually most references to it do not mention when it was said and in what context.  The quote apparently was said on June 29, 1972 by Pope Paul VI on the ninth anniversary of his coronation during a homily given at a mass for the solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.  The Italian text is here.  As far as I know there is no official translation.  On November 13, 2006 Jimmy Akin posted at his blog  a translation done of the homily by Father Stephanos Pedrano.  Please note that the text that is translated is a summary of what the Pope said and not a word for word transcript of what the Pope said.  Father Pedrano’s translation is as follows (I have placed in red the portion of the text that refers to Satan):

NINTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CORONATION OF HIS HOLINESS

HOMILY OF PAUL VI

SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL

THURSDAY, 29 JUNE 1972

In the evening of Thursday, 29 June, Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, in the presence of a considerable multitude of the faithful coming from every part of the world, the Holy Father celebrates the Mass and the beginning of the tenth year of his Pontificate as successor of Saint Peter.

With the Dean of the Sacred College, Lord Cardinal Amleto Giovanni Cicognani and the Subdean Lord Cardinal Luigi Traglia, there are thirty Porporati [cardinals] from the Curia, and some Shepherds of dioceses, present today in Rome.

Two Lord Cardinals for each Order [or rank], accompany the Holy Father in procession to the altar.

In the complete [entourage], the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, with the Substitute of the Secretary of State, archbishop Giovanni Benelli, and the Secretary of the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church, archbishop Agostino Casaroli.

We give a rendering of the Homily of His Holiness.

The Holy Father begins by affirming a most lively debt of gratitude to all those Brothers and Sons who are present in the Basilica and all those who, far away, but spiritually associated to them, are attending the sacred rite whose purpose is to celebrate the Apostle Peter, to whom the Vatican Basilica is dedicated as the privileged guardian of his tomb and his relics, and the Apostle Paul, ever united to him by apostolic design and by cult.  He [the Holy Father] joins to that purpose another intention:  that of recalling the anniversary of his election to succession in the pastoral ministry of the fisherman Simon, son of Jona, whom Christ named “Peter”— succession therefore also in the roles of Bishop of Rome, Pontiff of the universal Church, visible and most humble Vicar on earth of Christ the Lord.  The most lively gratitude is for how much the presence of so many faithful shows him their love for Christ himself in the sign of his [the Holy Father’s] poor person, and it assures him therefore of their fidelity and indulgence towards him, no less than their consoling commitment to help him with their prayer.

THE CHURCH OF JESUS, THE CHURCH OF PETER

Paul VI goes on to say that he does not want to speak in his brief discourse, about him, St. Peter, for it would take too long and would perhaps be superfluous to anyone who already knows his marvelous history; neither does he [the Holy Father] wish to speak about himself, since there is already too much being said about him in the press and the radio.  Nonetheless, he expresses his debt of recognition to them [the press and the radio].  The Holy Father wishes, rather, to speak of the Church, which in that moment and from that vantage point seems to appear before his eyes as spread out in its most vast and most complicated panorama. He limits himself to repeating a phrase from the Apostle Peter himself, as if uttered by Peter to the immense catholic community, uttered by him in his first letter that is included in the canon of the writings of the New Testament.  This most beautiful message, sent from Rome to the first Christians of Asia Minor, who were partly of Jewish origin, partly of pagan, as if to show right from the start the universality of the apostolic ministry of Peter.  This message has a parenetic character, that is, an exhortative character, but it does not lack doctrinal teachings, and the phrase that the Pope cites has precisely that character, so much that the recent Council has enshrined it as one of the Council’s characteristic teachings.  Paul VI invites all to listen to it as if St. Peter were pronouncing it for them while he [Paul VI] was voicing it.

After having recalled the passage from Exodus that tells how God, speaking to Moses before giving him the Law, said:  “I shall make of this people a priestly and royal people,” Paul VI declares that St. Peter took up this quite uplifting and grand phrase, and he applied it to the new people of God, the heir and continuance of Biblical Israel, to form a new Israel, the Israel of Christ.  St. Peter says:  “This people will be a priestly and royal people that will glorify the God of mercy, the God of salvation.”

The Holy Father makes the observation that certain individuals have misunderstood this phrase, as if the priesthood were only one order, and as if it had been communicated to all who are inserted in the Mystical Body of Christ, to all who are Christians. That understanding is true as far as regards what is called the common priesthood, but the Council tells us, and Tradition had already taught, that there exists another grade of the priesthood, the ministerial priesthood that has particular and exclusive faculties and prerogatives.

However, what interests everyone is the royal priesthood, and the Pope spends some time on the meaning of this expression.  Priesthood means the capacity to render worship to God, to communicate with Him, to offer Him worthily something in his honor, to converse with Him, to seek him always with new depth, with new discovery, with new love.  This impetus of humanity towards God, which is never sufficiently achieved, nor sufficiently known, is the priesthood of the one who is inserted in the unique Priest, who is Christ, after the inauguration of the New Covenant.  Whoever is a Christian is for that reason endowed with this quality, with this prerogative of being able to speak to the Lord in real terms as a son to a father.

THE NECESSARY DIALOGUE WITH GOD

“We dare to say”:  we can really celebrate, before the Lord, a rite, a liturgy of shared prayer, a sanctification even of profane life, and this distinguishes one who is Christian from one who is not.  This people is distinct, even though it may be mixed in with the great tide of humanity.  It has its own distinction, its own unmistakable characteristic.  St. Paul says “segregatus” [segregated], separate, distinct from the rest of humanity precisely because invested with prerogatives and functions lacking to those who do not possess the extreme fortune and excellence of being members of Christ.

Paul VI adds, then, that the faithful— who are called to be sons of God, to be partakers in the Mystical Body of Christ, and are animated by the Holy Spirit, and made into the temple of the presence of God— must carry out this dialogue, this colloquium, this conversation with God in religion, in liturgical worship, in private worship, and extend the sense of sacredness even to profane actions.  “Whether you eat, whether you drink— says St. Paul— do it for the glory of God.”  And he says it several more times, in his letters, as if to challenge the Christian with the capacity to infuse something new, to illuminate, to make sacred even the things that are temporal, external, passing, profane.

We are invited to give to the Christian people, that is called the Church, a truly sacred meaning.  And we feel the duty to hold back the rising tide of profanity, of desacralization, of secularization that wants to confuse and overwhelm the religious sense in the secret of the heart, in private life or even in the affirmations of public life.  There is a tendency today to affirm that there is no need to distinguish one man from another, that there is nothing that could bring about this distinction.  Even more, there is a tendency to restore to man his authenticity, his being like all other men.  But the Church and St. Peter today summon the Christian people to its consciousness of itself, and say to the Christian people that it is a chosen people, distinct, “acquired” by Christ, a people that must exercise a particular relationship with God, a priesthood with God.  This sacralization of life must not be canceled today, expelled from custom and from daily reality as if forced to appear no more.

SACREDNESS OF THE CHRISTIAN PEOPLE

Paul the VI notes that we have lost the religious habit and so many other exterior manifestations of religious life.  On this point there is much to discuss and much to acknowledge, but it is necessary to maintain the concept, and with the concept also some sign of the sacredness of the Christian people, of those who are inserted into Christ, High and Eternal Priest.

Certain sociological currents today tend to study humanity while prescinding from this contact with God.  By contrast, the sociology of St. Peter, the sociology of the Church, studies men by pointing to precisely this sacred aspect of conversation with the ineffable, with God, with the divine world.  It is necessary to affirm that in the study of all the human differentiations.  No matter how heterogeneous humankind may appear to be, we must not forget this fundamental unity that the Lord confers upon us when he gives us grace:  we are brothers in Christ himself.  There is no longer Jew, nor Greek, no Scythian, nor barbarian, nor man, nor woman.  We are all only one thing in Christ.  We are all sanctified, we all have participation in this supernatural grade of elevation that Christ has conferred upon us.  St. Peter reminds us of it:  it is the sociology of the Church that we must not obliterate or forget.

CONCERN AND AFFECTION FOR THE WEAK AND DISORIENTED

Paul VI asks himself, then, if the Church of today can bring itself to face with tranquility the words that Peter has left as an inheritance, offering them to be meditated upon.  The Holy Father says, “At this time, with immense charity, let us again think of all our brothers who are leaving us, think of all those who are fugitive and oblivious, think of all who perhaps have never arrived at having an awareness of the Christian vocation, even though they have received Baptism.  How we should wish truly to stretch out our hands towards them, and tell them that our hearts are always open, that the door is easy, and how we should wish to make them sharers in the great, ineffable fortune of our happiness, the fortune of being in communication with God, who does not take away from us any part of the temporal vision and the positive realism of the exterior world!“

Perhaps our being in communication with God obligates us to renunciations, to sacrifices; but at the same time that it deprives us of something it multiplies its gifts.  Yes, it imposes renunciations, but it makes us superabundant in other riches.  We are not poor, rather we are rich, because we have the riches of the Lord.  The Pope adds, “And so, we should wish to tell these brothers—whose absence we feel as it were in the guts of our priestly soul— how close they are to us, how much we love them now and always, and how much we pray for them, and with how much effort we seek to pursue, surround and repair the interruption that they themselves have imposed on our communion with Christ.

Referring to the situation of the Church today, the Holy Father affirms that he has a sense that “from some fissure the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.”  There is doubt, incertitude, problematic, disquiet, dissatisfaction, confrontation.  There is no longer trust of the Church; they trust the first profane prophet who speaks in some journal or some social movement, and they run after him and ask him if he has the formula of true life.  And we are not alert to the fact that we are already the owners and masters of the formula of true life.  Doubt has entered our consciences, and it entered by 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.  Scientists are those who more thoughtfully and more painfully exert their minds.  But they end up teaching us:  “I don’t know, we don’t 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 revolutions that are more radical and more strange, so as to negate everything that has been achieved, and to come away as primitives after having so exalted the advances of the modern world.

This state of uncertainty even holds sway in the Church.  There was the belief that after the Council there would be a day of sunshine for the history of the Church.  Instead, it is the arrival of a day of clouds, of tempest, of darkness, of research, of uncertainty.  We preach ecumenism but we constantly separate ourselves from others.  We seek to dig abysses instead of filling them in.

FOR A LIFEGIVING AND REDEEMING “CREDO”

How has this come about?  The Pope entrusts one of his thoughts to those who are present:  that there has been an intervention of an adverse power.  Its name is the devil, this mysterious being that the Letter of St. Peter also alludes to.  So many times, furthermore, in the Gospel, on the lips of Christ himself, the mention of this enemy of men returns.  The Holy Father observes, “We believe in something that is preternatural that has come into the world precisely to disturb, to suffocate the fruits of the Ecumenical Council, and to impede the Church from breaking into the hymn of joy at having renewed in fullness its awareness of itself.  Precisely for this reason, we should wish to be able, in this moment more than ever, to exercise the function God assigned to Peter, to strengthen the Faith of the brothers.  We should wish to communicate to you this charism of certitude that the Lord gives to him who represents him though unworthily on this earth.”  Faith gives us certitude, security, when it is based upon the Word of God accepted and consented to with our very own reason and with our very own human spirit.  Whoever believes with simplicity, with humility, sense that he is on the good road, that he has an interior testimony that strengthens him in the difficult conquest of the truth.

The Pope concludes:  The Lord shows himself to be light and truth for him who accepts him in his Word, and his Word becomes no longer an obstacle to the truth and the path to well-being, but rather a stair-step upon which we can climb and truly be conquerors in the Lord who reveals himself through the path of faith— this faith that is the anticipation and guarantee of the definitive vision.

By underlining another aspect of contemporary humanity, Paul VI recalls the existence of a great number of humble, simple, pure, upright, strong souls who follow the invitation of St. Peter to be “strong in faith.”  And we should wish, so Paul VI says, that this strength of faith, this sureness, this peace should triumph over all obstacles.  Finally, the Pope invites the faithful to an act of faith that is humble and sincere, to a psychological effort to find in their own hearts the impetus towards a conscious act of adherence:  “Lord, I believe in Your word, I believe in Your revelation, I believe in the one You have given me as witness and guarantor of Your revelation to sense and to prove, with the strength of faith, the anticipation of the blessedness of the life that is promised us with faith.”

I very much wish that we had the actual words spoken by the Pope on this occasion rather than a summary.  What was the Pope attempting to convey when he said this?

Philip Blosser at his blog Musings of a Pertinacious Papist posted this on February 21, 2009:

I was talking about this with one of my colleagues about this a couple days ago, who described the event in detail, saying that the Pope departed from the text of his homily at the point of his vision or trance. He sent me the following with permission to post it online:

In his homily given on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29, 1972, Pope Paul VI made a famous remark about the “smoke of Satan” entering into the temple of God. The full text of the homily was not reproduced in the Vatican collection of Paul VI’s teachings (Insegnamenti di Paulo VI Vol. X, 1972). Instead, a summary of the homily was given. Within the summary, however, there are some direct quotes from the Pontiff. Two of these are memorable for their references to Satan and the preternatural.

The Holy Father asserts that he has the feeling that “from some fissure the smoke of Satan has entered into the temple of God” (da qualche fessura sia entrato il fumo di Satana nel tempio di Dio (Insegnamenti [1972], 707).

Later, he is quoted as saying: “We believe … that something preternatural has come into the world specifically to disturb, to suffocate the fruits of the Ecumenical Council, and to prevent the Church from breaking out in a hymn of joy for having recovered in fullness the awareness of herself (Crediamo … in qualcosa di preternaturale venunto nel mondo proprio per turbare, per soffocare i frutti del Concilio Ecumenico, e per impedire che la Chiesa prorompesse nell’inno della gioia di aver riavuto in pienezza la coscienza di sé (Insegnamenti [1972], 708).

(notes and translations by R. Fastiggi)

In his general audience of Nov. 15, 1972, Paul VI addressed in more detail the reality of the Devil. He stated that one of the greatest needs of the Church today is the defense against that evil we call the Devil. (Insegnamenti [1972], 1168-1173).

The November 15, 1972 address was a great warning by the Pope for Catholics to be aware of the Devil and to be armed against him:

WHAT ARE the Church’s greatest needs at the present time? Don’t be surprised at Our answer and don’t write it off as simplistic or even superstitious: one of the Church’s greatest needs is to be defended against the evil we call the Devil.

Before clarifying what We mean, We would like to invite you to open your minds to the light that faith casts on the vision of human existence, a vision which from this observation point of faith reaches out to immense distances and penetrates to unique depths. To tell the truth, the picture that we are invited to behold with an all-encompassing realism is a very beautiful one. It is the picture of creation, the work of God. He Himself admired its substantial beauty as an external reflection of His wisdom and power.[1]

Christian vision of the universe

Then there is the interesting picture of the dramatic history of mankind, leading to the history of the Redemption and of Christ; the history of our salvation, with its stupendous treasures of revelation, prophecy and holiness, of life elevated to a supernatural level, of eternal promises.[2] Knowing how to look at this picture cannot help but leave us enchanted.[3] Everything has a meaning, a purpose, an order; and everything gives us a glimpse of a Transcendent Presence, a Thought, a Life and ultimately a Love, so that the universe, both by reason of what it is and of what it is not, offers us an inspiring, joyful preparation for something even more beautiful and more perfect.[4] The Christian vision of the universe and of life is therefore triumphantly optimistic; and this vision fully justifies our joy and gratitude for being alive, so that we sing forth our happiness in celebrating God’s glory.[5]

The mystery of evil

But is this vision complete and correct? Are the defects in the world of no account? What of the things that don’t work properly in our lives? What of suffering and death, wickedness, cruelty and sin? In a word, what of evil? Don’t we see how much evil there is in the world-especially moral evil, which goes against man and against God at one and the same time, although in different ways? Isn’t this a sad spectacle, an unexplainable mystery? And aren’t we-the lovers of the Word, the people who sing of the Good, we believers-aren’t we the ones who are most sensitive and most upset by our observation and experience of evil?

We find evil in the realm of nature, where so many of its expressions seem to speak to us of some sort of disorder. Then we find it among human beings, in the form of weakness, frailty, suffering, death and something worse: the tension between two laws-one reaching for the good, the other directed toward evil. St. Paul points out this torment in humiliating fashion to prove our need a salvific grace, for the salvation brought by Christ,[6] and also our great good fortune in being saved. Even before this, a pagan poet had described this conflict within the very heart of man: “I see what is better and I approve of it, but then I follow the worse.”[7]

We come face to face with sin which is a perversion of human freedom and the profound cause of death because it involves detachment from God, the source of life. And then sin in its turn becomes the occasion and the effect of interference in us and our work by a dark, hostile agent, the Devil. Evil is not merely an absence of something but an active force, a living, spiritual being that is perverted and that perverts others. It is a terrible reality, mysterious and frightening.

Seeking an explanation

It is a departure from the picture provided by biblical Church teaching to refuse to knowledge the Devil’s existence; to regard him as a self-sustaining principle who, unlike other creatures, does not owe his origin to God; or to explain the Devil as a pseudo-reality, a conceptual, fanciful personification of the unknown causes of our misfortunes. When the problem of evil is seen in all its complexity and in its absurdity from the point of view of our limited minds, it becomes an obsession. It poses the greatest single obstacle to our religious understanding of the universe It is no accident that St. Augustine was bothered by this for years: “I sought the source of evil, and I found no explanation.”[9]

Thus we can see how important an awareness of evil is if we are to have a correct Christian concept of the world, life and salvation. We see this first in the unfolding of the Gospel story at the beginning of Christ’s public life. Who can forget the highly significant description of the triple temptation of Christ? Or the many episodes in the Gospel where the Devil crosses the Lord’s path and figures in His teaching?[10] And how could we forget that Christ, referring three times to the Devil as His adversary, describes him as “the prince of this world”?[11]

Other New Testament passages

The lurking shadow of this wicked presence is pointed up in many, many passages of the New Testament. St. Paul calls him the “god of this world,”[12] and warns us of the struggle we Christians must carry on in the dark, not only against one Devil, but against a frightening multiplicity of them. “I put on the armor of God,” the Apostle tells us, “that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the Principalities and the Powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness on high.”[13]

Many passages in the Gospel show us that we are dealing not just with one Devil, but with many.[14] But the principal one is Satan, which means the adversary, the enemy; and along with him are many others, all of them creatures of God, but fallen because they rebelled and were damned[15] — a whole mysterious world, convulsed by a most unfortunate drama about which we know very little.

Man’s fatal tempter

There are many things we do know, however, about this diabolical world, things that touch on our lives and on the whole history of mankind. The Devil is at the origin of mankind’s first misfortune- he was the wily, fatal tempter involved in the first sin, the original sin.[16] That fall of Adam gave the Devil a certain dominion over man, from which only Christ’s Redemption can free us. It is a history that is still going on: let us recall the exorcisms at Baptism, and the frequent references in Sacred Scripture and in the liturgy to the aggressive and oppressive “power of darkness.”[17] The Devil is the number one enemy, the preeminent tempter.

So we know that this dark disturbing being exists and that he is still at work with his treacherous cunning; he is the hidden enemy who sows errors and misfortunes in human history. It is worth recalling the revealing Gospel parable of the good seed and the cockle, for it synthesizes and explains the lack of logic that seems to preside over our contradictory experiences: “An enemy has done this.”[18] He is “a murderer from the beginning, … and the father of lies,” as Christ defines him.[19] He undermines man’s moral equilibrium with his sophistry. He is the malign, clever seducer who knows how to make his way into us through the senses, the imagination and the libido, through utopian logic, or through disordered social contacts in the give and take of our activities, so that he can bring about in us deviations that are all the more harmful because they seem to conform to our physical or mental makeup, or to our profound, instinctive aspirations.

Ignoring the Devil

This matter of the Devil and of the influence he can exert on individuals as well as on communities, entire societies or events, is a very important chapter of Catholic doctrine which should be studied again, although it is given little attention today. Some think a sufficient compensation can be found in psychoanalytic and psychiatric studies or in spiritualistic experiences, which are unfortunately so widespread in some countries today.

People are afraid of falling back into old Manichean theories, or into frightening deviations of fancy and superstition. Nowadays they prefer to appear strong and unprejudiced to pose as positivists, while at the same time lending faith to many unfounded magical or popular superstitions or, worse still, exposing their souls-their baptized souls, visited so often by the Eucharistic Presence and inhabited by the Holy Spirit!-to licentious sensual experiences and to harmful drugs, as well as to the ideological seductions of fashionable errors. These are cracks through which the Evil One can easily penetrate and change the human mind.

This is not to say that every sin is directly due to diabolical action;[20] but it is true that those who do not keep watch over themselves with a certain moral rigor[21] are exposed to the influence of the “mystery of iniquity” cited by St. Paul[22] which raises serious questions about our salvation.

Our doctrine becomes uncertain, darkness obscured as it is by the darkness surrounding the Devil. But our curiosity, excited by the certainly of his multiple existence, has a right to raise two questions. Are there signs, and what are they, of the presence of diabolical action? And what means of defense do we have against such an insidious danger?

Presence of diabolical action

We have to be cautious about answering the first question, even though the signs of the Evil One seem to be very obvious at times.[23] We can presume that his sinister action is at work where the denial of God becomes radical, subtle and absurd; where lies become powerful and hypocritical in the face of evident truth; where love is smothered by cold, cruel selfishness; where Christ’s name is attacked with conscious, rebellious hatred,[24] where the spirit of the Gospel is watered down and rejected where despair is affirmed as the last word; and so forth.

But this diagnosis is too extensive and difficult for Us to attempt to probe and authenticate it now. It holds a certain dramatic interest for everyone, however, and has been the subject of some famous passages in modern literature.[25] The problem of evil remains one of the greatest and most lasting problems for the human mind, even after the victorious response given to it by Jesus Christ. “We know,” writes St. John the Evangelist, “that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one.”[26]

Defense against the Devil

It is easier to formulate an answer to the other question- what defense, what remedy should we use against the Devil’s action? — even though it remains difficult to put into practice. We could say: everything that defends us from sin strengthens us by that very fact against the invisible enemy. Grace is the decisive defense. Innocence takes on the aspect of strength. Everyone recalls how often the apostolic method of teaching used the armor of a soldier as a symbol for the virtues that can make a Christian invulnerable.[27] The Christian must be a militant; he must be vigilant and strong;[28] and he must at times make use of special ascetical practices to escape from certain diabolical attacks. Jesus teaches us this by pointing to “prayer and fasting” as the remedy.[29] And the Apostle suggests the main line we should follow: “Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. “[30]

With an awareness, therefore, of the opposition that individual souls, the Church and the world must face at the present time, we will try to give both meaning and, effectiveness to the familiar invocation in our principal prayer: “Our Father . . . deliver us from evil!”

May Our apostolic blessing also be a help toward achieving this.

ENDNOTES

1 See Gn 1, 10 etc. 2 See l?Eph 1, 10. 3 See St. Augustine, Soliloquies. 4 See l Cor 2, 9; 13, 12; Rom 8, 19-2:3. 5 See the Gloria of the Mass. 6 See Rom 7. 7 Ovid, Met. 7, 19. 8 Rom 5, 12. 9 Confessions VII, 5, 7, 11 etc.: PL :32, 736, 739. 10 For example. Mt 12, 43. 11 Jn 12, 31; 14, 30; 16, 11. 12 Cor 4, 4. 13 Eph 6, 11-12. 14 Lk. 11, 21; Mk 5, 9. 15 See DS 800-128. 16 Gn 3; Wis 1, 24. 17 See Lk 22, 53; Col 1, 13. 18 Mt 13, 28. 19 See Jn 8, 44-45. 20 See S. Th. 1, 104, 3. 21 See Mt 12, 45; Eph 6, 11. 22 2 Thes 2, 3-12. 23 See Tertullian, Apol. 23. 24 See I Cor 16, 22; 12, 3. 25 See, for example, the works of Bernanos, studied by Ch. Moeller, Litter. du XX siecle, I, p. 39, ff.; P. Macchi, Il volto del male in Bernanos; see also Satan, Etudes Carmelitaines, Desclee de Br. (1948). 26 1 Jn 5, 19. 27 See Rom 13, 12; Eph 6, 11, 14 17; I Thes 5, 8. 28 1 Pt 5, 8. 29 Mk 9, 29. 30 Rom 12, 21; Mt 13, 29. 

On May 15, 2008, Father Z had a post here examining a statement by Virgilio Cardinal Noe, master of ceremonies under Pope Paul VI who stated the following:

You from Petrus, have gotten a real scoop here, because I am in a position to reveal, for the first time, what Paul VI desired to denounce with that statement.  Here it is.  Papa Montini, for Satan, meant to include all those priests or bishops and cardinals who didn’t render worship to the Lord by celebrating badly (mal celebrando) Holy Mass because of an errant interpretation of the implementation of the Second Vatican Council. He spoke of the smoke of Satan because he maintained that those priests who turned Holy Mass into dry straw in the name of creativity, in reality were possessed of the vainglory and the pride of the Evil One.  so, the smoke of Satan was nothing other than the mentality which wanted to distort the traditional and liturgical canons of the Eucharistic ceremony.”

Perhaps.  However, when read in conjunction with the November 15, 1972 address, the smoke of Satan statement appears  to have been intended by the Pope to be a much broader warning to the Church. On the first Sunday in Lent in the Gospel reading we listened to the temptation of Christ by Satan.  Paul VI’s statement is a salutary reminder that the temptation continues for each of us individually and for the Church here on Earth.

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56 thoughts on “Pope Paul VI and the Smoke of Satan”

  1. Jesus is casting out demons with the finger of God, says LUKE, the MEDICAL DOCTOR – “11:20”. I add therefore at the moment: it must be considered important that one of the four REPHAIM who threaten David has six fingers – the Hebrew of 1 CHRONICLES, “20:6”, http://biblos.com/1_chronicles/20-6.htm , would make us think of a son of Benjamin RAPHA, 1 CHRONICLES, “8:2”. [My lines were commented on by http://stephenbarkley.com/ less than one hour ago.]

  2. Jesus says after his resurrection – “Luke, 24, 39” – that he is not a ghost: the GREEK word is “PNEUMA”. I thought at the moment: I have to decide, if Jesus is saying that he is not the devil or if Jesus is saying that he is not a demon.

  3. Dr. Siegfried Paul Posch

    I am convinced that we are about to forget: we do try to find an answer to the question, why the USA became an “ENGLISH NATION” and not a “GERMAN NATION”. But we do not think as much about S W E D E N . SWEDEN is important for the USA as well: I worked in SWEDEN twice, during two summers, in Sundsvall – also “all night long”.

  4. Dr. Siegfried Paul Posch

    I found “waiting for moderation” on http://blog.adw.org/2013/03/see-what-the-end-shall-be-a-meditation-on-the-lucan-passion-narrative/ less than one hour ago my following lines:

    >> [It is absolutely impossible that we could let “Judas” go “about unhindered”, because Jesus lost Judas and therefore we can never meet Judas if we are not eternally condemned:] I found, less than one hour ago: the native tongue of the Bishop of Rome is “PIEMONTESISCH” – http://religion.orf.at/stories/2576261/ . <<

  5. Dr. Siegfried Paul Posch

    My still deleted entry – less than one hour ago, https://catholicstand.com/the-danger-of-nice/#comment-1794 – was, for a very precise reason, on Franz von Papen and Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk: on the book WHO’S WHO IN NAZI GERMANY by Robert S. Wistrich, on the illustrated edition in German of 1983, translated by Dr. Joachim Rehork, that I cannot find in the catalogue of the Library of the Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz in Styria in Austria any more at the moment because of the problem with my Email. There should be three male witnesses for what I said on ‘19.3’ after ’03:52:15′. I contributed to ‘Wikipedia’: the article ‘Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk’ on ‘en.wikipedia’ – ‘last modified on 13 March 2013 at 01:39’ – did not seem to me to contain the same information as the article ‘Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk’ on ‘de.wikipedia’ (I repeat that I still cannot find any ‘at.wikipedia’) – ‘zuletzt am 22. Februar 2013 um 21:05 Uhr geändert’. I translate from ‘de.wikipedia’: ‘Graf Schwerin von Krosigk announced on 7 Mai 1945 at 14:30 … as Foreign Minister the … surrender of the Wehrmacht – on 8 Mai, one minute after midnight, the war ended.’ – I’m translating this, because it has never been decided if my father, a carpenter, was born on 10 January 1922 or on 11 January 1922: he was born at midnight.

  6. Dr. Siegfried Paul Posch

    I have to point out first, that the fear that ‘sia entrato il fumo di Satana nel tempio di Dio’ is not described by the translation ‘the smoke of Satan has entered into the temple of God’. (1) ‘THE TEMPLE OF GOD’, understood as a building, is only the Temple of Jerusalem. (2) ‘Satan’ would have to be translated by ‘IL DIAVOLO’. ‘English’ and spanish [sic] translations of ‘JUDE 1:9’, where the greatest possible respect is expressed, have ‘devil’ or ‘Devil’ – http://bible.cc/jude/1-9.htm – and ‘diablo’ – http://bibliaparalela.com/jude/1-9.htm . – My Email does not work since I received ‘CHRISTMAS GREETINGS’ from Essen in Germany: quite some time ago, a few ‘years’ ago. The ‘GREETINGS’ came from http://www.kamillianer.at/oesterr/blind_1.htm . But two persons whose native tongue was ‘English’ told me during a series of discussions I proposed here in Graz in Styria in Austria, that we could use a ‘KING JAMES VERSION’ of the ‘Bible’ that I received as a gift when attending ‘GOTTESDIENST’ in the USA: that could make it possible for me to ask for help for my Email, if this translation is to be continued. – However: ‘CATHOLIC STAND’ deleted my entry – ‘19.3’, after ’03:52:15′ – concerning ‘ISO 8601’ (1977) and ‘DIN 1355’ (1943, 1975) on https://catholicstand.com/the-danger-of-nice/#comment-1794 . You cannot ask me to do work for you: and offend me in every possible way at the same time.

  7. Tim, please be careful with your remarks. You are, I hope inadvertently and not maliciously, slandering some of the most beautiful Popes the Holy Roman Catholic Church has ever been blessed with. Nevertheless, God will hold you accountable. The author who accuses them of being Masons will also answer for these comments. They were not Masons.

  8. All who have made comments: please read St. Faustina’s Diary. And look at the Divine Mercy Image that Jesus asked St. Faustina to have painted with the words underneath – Jesus I Trust In You – The holy Catholic Church was founded by Jesus – He will not forsake us. Pray and trust in Him and His Blessed Mother. Attend Mass frequently, go to Confession often and pray the Rosary every day. Pray for the Church and our priests and pray for holy vocations to the priesthood and religious life. If we do all this and love and help our neighbor, the world will be a better place and we will be pleasing to God.

  9. Interesting comments. Perhaps it would be very nice to also check out Eastern Catholics (you know that there are 22 Catholic churches, not simply Roman and as Pope John Paul II wanted the Church to breathe with two lungs). They have beautiful Liturgies, and are in full communion with the Holy Father. Many martyrs of the faith have come and are still coming from the East as well. Oh, and Byzantine Catholic priests do face Jesus on the altar. Words of the Liturgy are so beautiful and filled with much piety, hope and love. You miss something if you have not gone there.

  10. to the bishops conference of italy in nov 77/78 before paul 6 died, he mentioned the same ideas ==the smoke of satan was swirling around the alters of the church. the italian newspapers ran the quotes but the vatican didnot put the newspaper article in their archives.. remenber humana vita how paul the 6 refused the theolgians proposals and how so manny refused to believe the pope what he wrote of the conseguences we are seeing the fruit, bad fruit, of the pill. the misrepresentations of vatican two are now seeing their bad results for gods good purpose. eg cardinal mahony and his bishop. be prepared to meet ur maker and redemer if u keep the faith.

  11. I appreciate all the comments to my post. A few observations.

    Please do not post a comment all in caps. It is the internet version of yelling and I find it annoying.

    Although I am not a fan of Vatican II, I think sometimes it reaps too much blame for tendencies that have been alive within the Church long before Vatican II.

    I am not a big believer in conspiracy theories. I do not believe that the chaos within the Church since Vatican II was caused by an evil cabal of Masons, nor do I think Pope Paul was in cahoots with such a cabal. In a way it would be a relief to believe such a thing, since once the evil cabal was overcome all could be set right. Unfortunately I think that most of the problems currently besetting the Church were caused by nice people doing very dumb things and from deep seated social changes. Satan benefits from good intentions done with stupidity as well as evil intentions carried out with malice.

  12. Dismas, The seminaries, convents were full to capacity. Confession lines were long. Priests gave fire and brimstone sermons, not mush-mouth homilies of today. They told the people what they were doing wrong, and set them on the right path.

    1. Joe – do your remember the 1968 riots and revolts in protest of Humanae Vitae by certain clergy, religious and laity? I didn’t actually witness them but I understand they were pretty widespread. I don’t think, as you imply, VCII so much ruined our Church as much as I think it was the disobedient rupture in implementation and non serviam of our Church’s members, which still, quite obviously persists today.

  13. What a holy man Pope PaulVI was. During this year of faith we should all get down to the business of reading the CCC and the Vatican II documents. Knowing what the Church teaches and studying will help our souls and all of those we come in contact with. Mass, prayer, confession, and study, and doing everything for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and loving His mother and the Church.

    1. Tanya, I am sorry but you are wrong.
      Before praising Pope Paul VI, you must read the book of the late (deceased a few months ago) Fr Luigi Villa “Paul VI beatified?” one stays apalled how so much duplicity could be displayed by a pope.

  14. My pastor is 39 years old. He is very traditional (and human) and preaches the faith as it should be. he often reminds us that he is not here to “tickle your ears”. Interestingly enough, when he talks about sin and hell, some of the older people (60 and up) complain bitterly and say that he is threatening them. Some have gone so far as to complain to the bishop. I am so grateful to belong to a parish with a good priest who is striving for personal holiness yet has a great sense of humor.

    1. Mary, you are indeed blessed to have a good priest. May God bless him and you. And Joe de Carlo, Vatican II didn’t change anything in our Church for the worse. Human beings with agendas went back to their countries and stripped the churches, introduced horrendous music, told our religious that they needed to dress like the rest of us, etc. Read the Documents of Vatican II. Popes Paul VI and John Paul the Great were wonderful gifts of God to our Church and world in our lifetimes, as was Vatican II. Nevertheless, I very much miss the reverence at Mass, the beautiful music and the packed Churches and so much more.

    2. Glad to hear, Mary. Those people who are complaining can’t handle the truth. I’m surprised at those 60 and up are complaining because they were brought up before Pre-Vatican II. That was when the Catholic church was strong, with no nonsense priests, and nuns. Most of today’s priests are nothing but jelly fish.

  15. Pingback: Pope Paul VI and the Smoke of Satan « End Times

    1. Pope Paul VI was like Janus the two-faced god.
      While he warned about the “smokes of Satan entering the Temple of God”, he acted to blow them in.
      And so far as I know, nothing was made to blow them out until now. On the contrary they look as if they had thickened an darkened.
      Once one has read the book of the late (deceased a few months ago) Fr Luigi Villa “Paul VI beatified?” on stays apalled how so much duplicity could be displayed by a pope.

      I pray this man never will be beatified, nor canonized, of course.

  16. Why did it take 50 years to officially indicate how right Pope Paul VI was. Than God and him for Humanae Vitae.

  17. After Vatican II, the Catholic church lost its identity. The mass is been changed to resemble a protestant service. The reason being that there were 6 protestant ministers who were observers? on the liturgical committee. We no longer try to convert people to the Catholic faith. We practically say that one religion is as good as another. I am a pre-vatican II baby, I was taught there was no salvation outside the church. According to the teaching of today, any believer in any religion can be saved. Jesus said the only way to the father is through me. …every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist… 1 John 4:2,3 “God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and the abide in God 1 John 4:13-15

    1. STAY STRONG IN YOUR CATHOLIC FAITH AND KNOW THAT SATAN IS TRYING TO DESTROY THE CHURCH WITH THE INFILTRATION OF FREEMASONS IN THE CHURCH WHICH ARE NOW CARDINALS. PRAY FOR THEIR CONVERSION BECAUSE THEIR SOULD IS IN GRAVE DANGER. SATAN IS REAL AND UNTIL ALL CATHOLICS COME TOGETHER STAND UP FOR THEIR FAITH AND REBUKE SATAN OUT OF THIS CHURCH, WE WILL ALL STAND BEFORE OUR LORD IN GREAT JUDGEMENT. THE BLESSED MOTHERS COMES IN APPARITIONS AND TELLS US TO PRAY FOR OUR SHEPHARDS AND THE CHURCH OF THE WEST. FAST,PRAY,MASS, CONFESSION AND DO PENANCE FOR THE DELIVERANC OF ALL EVIL IN THIS WORLD.
      http://WWW.MEDJUGOJE.ORG

    2. Joe – The priest at my parish demonstrates no lack of courage in preaching the Gospel and the fullness of truth found in our Church. I’m not quite sure what you mean by novus ordo priest? Don’t all Roman Catholic priests receive the same indelible mark at their ordination during the Sacrament of Holy Orders?

      Clearly I don’t share your witness and experience. I also wonder if you’re not speaking out of turn and bearing false witness if, as you say, you’ve been “attending the TLM” for the last 10 years?

    3. Dismas, I’m not bearing false witness, because the Latin mass has been around for over 500 years. Novus Ordo Missiae in latin means the new order of the mass, which was implemented during Vatican II. The Novus ordo mass is valid and the novus ordo priests are validly ordained. It was Vatican II that changed the Catholic church for the worse.

    4. Joe – was it Vatican II that changed the Catholic Church for the worse or was it sinful members of the Body of Christ, such as you and I, through our misunderstanding of VCII that gives a false impression that VCII changed the Catholic Church for the worse?

    5. Anyone that says the church of today is better off than it was before Vatican II has their head in the sand. The seminaries, convents, Catholic schools were full. Mass attendance was about 90% compared to about 30% today. Confession lines were long. We didn’t need Vatican II.

      Vatican II wanted to “update” the church in communion with modern man. Here is what Bishop Sheen wrote in 1934. ” … the modern prophet, it was told, would rather be up-to-date than right, rather than be wrong than behind the times. Our Blessed Lord upset this spirit by dwelling not on timely topics, but by eternal truths. He taught in such a manner as to disprove forever His Ideas were suited for His time, and therefore, unsuitable to any other. He never used a phrase than made His philosophy dependent on the social order in which he lived; He never made His morality dependent on the existence of the Roman Empire, or even the existence of the world. ‘ ” Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will no pass away.’ “

    6. Joe, Do you have official sources for the statistics you cite? Personally, I don’t recall there ever being a perfect time in our Church’s history. I certainly haven’t read any Saints reporting of such an event but I understand the temptation of such a romantic notion.

      I’m truly greatful for VCII, it certainly seems to reveal the hearts and minds of many regarding our Church.

    7. Dismas, There are plenty of sources. Read some of the books written by Traditional Catholic publications, such as ” The Remnant”, ” The Latin Mass Magazine”, “The Wanderer”. The book, “The Resurrection of the Roman Catholic Church” A guide to the Traditional Catholic Movement by Griff Ruby.

      I lived well before Vatican II, when the church was vibrant. I attended 16 years of Catholic schools. I attended mass when we had 5 or 6 masses on a Sunday and each mass was full. I attended a an all boys Catholic high school with a roll of 3500 boys. Last year, this school closed because of an attendance of about 400. The Catholic girls high schools had the same amount of enrollments.
      I lived in Philly, where, in my neighborhood there were three Catholic churches four blocks apart. Each had a school that was filled to capacity and each church was filled to capacity on Sundays. I lived through these times,so I am a primary source.

    8. Then perhaps Joe you might be the person I’ve been looking for to answer my question in my original post:

      “Save the Liturgy, Save the World? Maybe, but how can anyone render proper Worship onto the Lord; TLM or Novus Ordo without first and foremost true trust and faith in our Church, all it teaches and all it promises with proper assent of faith, acceptance and understanding?

  18. This too shall pass Shirley. We are going through something that none of us anticipated within our Church. There is blame all around for what we are dealing with today. Our responsibility as the laity is to keep praying for our clergy that God strengthens them in their faith and resolve. It’s always darkest before the dawn, and the dawn is nigh.

    1. I couldn’t agree more Bobby!

      The answer is prayer! The answer was always in prayer! Continually offer prayer. Make every thing we do a prayerful act. Make everything we say a prayerful word. Make every thought prayerful conversation with God.

      Never rest in your prayer…because we can be assured the evil ones will never rest in their attempts to distract and misguide us.

      Far better people than perhaps any of us reading these thoughts were easily distracted by the evil ones, regardless of the fact they were living life in the midst of our Savior, Jesus Christ. My Confirmation namesake and inspiration in life, St. Peter, was distracted from time to time too.

      He was a sinner. I have always been a sinner. We are all sinners. Jesus knew this about St. Peter, and he certainly knows this about each one of us.

      But, St. Peter…a sinner like us…opened himself up to God’s saving grace and became “the rock” upon which our Lord built His Church. St. Peter continually offered everything in daily life as prayer to Almighty God; ultimately offering life itself out of love for our Lord.

      We all need to ask the Lord Holy Spirit to dwell with us by actively participating in the Sacraments. We also need to Pray…Pray…Pray! Pray for the church…Pray for each other…Pray for our Holy Priests…and Pray for all who are in error.

      Perhaps more importantly, we need to pray that we ourselves do not fall into error. We need to pray that “we” do not think we are better than anyone else because “we” follow God without error. Lots of people have fallen into this error both before and after our Lord Jesus lived on earth with us.

      None of us are better than anyone else on this earth. We are all equal sinners before Almighty God. Nothing escapes the gaze of our Lord. Nothing! All good things come from God, the source of ALL goodness. If we are without error for the time being, it is because of the grace of God, and not because of what we’ve done. To use just one of many historical examples, let us not be like many…although Not All…who were the San Hedrin.

      What God allows to happen here on earth, will be what He allows to happen. Everything is purposeful…good or bad.

      Yet, remember always…no matter what happens on earth, no matter who is deceived, no matter who is causing damage to our fragile lives…God’s plan and will are ALWAYS done! If not for the grace of God, none of us would be here.

      May the peace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you all!

      Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

      Vivat Iesu

      P.S. Habemus Papam! Woooo Hoooooo! Thank you Lord Holy Spirit! May Almighty God bless and keep our new holy father, Pope Francis.

  19. I believe in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church with every fiber of my being. But I, like many devout Catholics, suffer so much because of some of our priests and bishops. They seem to lack courage in standing up for what is right. After trying to educate my parish priest on various issues like the inappropriateness of applause during Mass and off-color jokes during his homilies, I asked him if he was born before or after Vatican II. He was born after. I have come to know several of the priests from his Order. They all lack reverence. I’m not sure if this is a combination of poor seminary training and not experiencing the beauty of a reverent Mass prior to Vatican II or something else. My parish priest mocks everything I believe in. So I go to confession to another parish. I go to Mass in my parish because I teach High School Confirmation and the students need to see me at Mass, otherwise I would go to Mass in this other parish. That priest is so reverent, gives beautiful homilies, and uses incense. He was telling me he teaches Liturgy at the local Seminary and has a hard time because the Seminarians don’t understand why they need to be so reverent. So sad.

    1. I understand your concerns. I struggle with these same concerns and perceptions myself. However, I also realize some of my perceptions of others may not always be true, may even be false or at least an exaggeration.

      Regardless, Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour established His Church and Sacraments. Will either of us allow our judgement and perceptions of others interfere or prevent the gift and growth of our true faith and trust in Jesus and His Church?

      If my answer is yes, I think the problem must first be mine and not that of others; through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.

    2. You are exactly correct! The novus ordo priests lack the courage to preach to those so-called Catholics who are pro-choice, pro-gay marriage at the pulpit. I’ve never heard a priest talk about people not going to confession and the receiving communion-three people at confession on a sat. and on Sunday the whole congregation goes to communion. nary a word from the pulpit.

      The last 10 years I’ve have been attending the TLM. What a difference! The pastor addresses the above issues.

    3. AMEN AMEN AMEN…

      THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THE ONE AND ONLY CHURCH THAT OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST STARTED WITH THE NEW COVENANT( THE LAST SUPPER) THE FIRST HOLY MASS AND AS OUR LORD GAVE PETER THE KEYS TO HEAVEN! UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH AND THE GATES OF THE NETHERWORLD SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT. PETER WAS OUR FIRST POPE AND THE HEAVENS WILL ALWAYS WATCH OVER AND PROTECT THE FAITHFUL STEWARDS OF HIS CHURCH. ALL OTHERS WE MUST PRAY FOR THEIR DELIVERANCE OF ALL EVIL INFLUENCE IN THEIR LIFE TO SAVE THEIR SOUL FROM HELL. I AM A CONVERT FROM BAPTIST AND I WILL NEVER LEAVE THE ONE HOLY CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH. EHPESIANS 4:6…. ONE GOD ONE FAITH ONE CHURCH.
      THE DEVIL IS ON ALL RELIGIONS AND MANY SOULS HAVE BEEN HURT BY PROTESTANT MINISTERS,YOUTH MINISTERS 300% MORE THAN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE MEDIA DOESNT COVER IT ( BECAUSE SATAN DOESNT CARE ABOUT THOSE FAITHS, THEY DO NOT HAVE THE EUCHARIST)

    4. Joe – The priest at my parish demonstrates no lack of courage in preaching the Gospel and the fullness of truth found in our Church. I’m not quite sure what you mean by novus ordo priest? Don’t all Roman Catholic priests receive the same indelible mark at their ordination during the Sacrament of Holy Orders?

      Clearly I don’t share your witness and experience. I also wonder if you’re not speaking out of turn and bearing false witness if, as you say, you’ve been “attending the TLM” for the last 10 years?

    5. Novus Ordo (new order) is the post-Vatican II Mass. TLM would be the Traditional Latin Mass (or Tridentine) mass. You can easily google these things to learn more about them.

  20. “There is doubt, incertitude, problematic, disquiet, dissatisfaction, confrontation. There is no longer trust of the Church; they trust the first profane prophet who speaks in some journal or some social movement, and they run after him and ask him if he has the formula of true life. And we are not alert to the fact that we are already the owners and masters of the formula of true life. Doubt has entered our consciences, and it entered by windows that should have been open to the light.”

    Save the Liturgy, Save the World? Maybe, but how can anyone render proper Worship onto the Lord; TLM or Novus Ordo without first and foremost true trust and faith in our Church, all it teaches and all it promises with proper assent of faith, acceptance and understanding?

    This question has bothered me for a very long time and more or less leads me to believe the problem is first, much more about assent of faith in our Church and then secondly, about Liturgy.

    For me, “Save the Litury, Save the World” is somehow incomplete and lacks a fullness of truth.

  21. Pingback: Natalia Tsarkova, Pope Benedict XVI’s Official Painter | Big Pulpit

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