Exorcists question Jesuit’s view of devil

Contrary to statements made by Jesuit superior general Fr. Arturo Sosa, an international organization of Catholic exorcists said the existence of Satan as a real and personal being is a truth of Christian doctrine.

“The real existence of the devil, as a personal subject who thinks and acts and has made the choice of rebellion against God, is a truth of faith that has always been part of Christian doctrine,” the International Association of Exorcists said in an Aug. 22 press release.

The organization’s release came a day after Sosa was quoted in the Italian magazine Tempi that “the devil exists as a symbolic reality, not as a personal reality.”

The devil “exists as the personification of evil in different structures, but not in persons, because he is not a person, he is a way of acting evil. He is not a person like a human person. It is a way of evil to be present in human life,” Sosa said.

The exorcists called the remarks “grave and confusing.”

Citing a long history of Church teaching on the nature of Satan, including several citations from Pope Francis and his recent predecessors, the exorcists’ organization said that Catholics are bound to believe that Satan is a real and personal being, a fallen angel.

“The Church, founded on Sacred Scripture and on Apostolic Tradition officially teaches that the devil is a creature and a personal being, and she cautions those who, like Fr. Sosa, consider him only a symbol.”

Sosa’s remarks are “outside the ordinary and extraordinary-solemn magisterium” of the Church, the exorcists said.