webfact Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Pope blames devil for Church divisions, scandals, seeks angel's help By Philip Pullella FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis arrives to lead the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican, September 26, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The devil is alive and well and working overtime to undermine the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis says. In fact, the pope is so convinced that Satan is to blame for the sexual abuse crisis and deep divisions racking the Church that he has asked Catholics around the world to recite a special prayer every day in October to try to beat him back. "(The Church must be) saved from the attacks of the malign one, the great accuser and at the same time be made ever more aware of its guilt, its mistakes, and abuses committed in the present and the past," Francis said in a message on Sept. 29. Since he was elected in 2013, Francis has made clear that he believes the devil to be real. In a document in April on holiness in the modern world, Francis mentioned the devil more than a dozen times. "We should not think of the devil as a myth, a representation, a symbol, a figure of speech or an idea. This mistake would lead us to let down our guard, to grow careless and end up more vulnerable," he wrote in the document. The Church has recently been hit by one sexual abuse scandal after another, from Germany, to the United States, to Chile. At the same time, a deepening polarisation between conservatives and liberals in the Church has played out on social media. Francis' use of the term "the great accuser" to describe Satan hit a raw nerve with one of the pope's harshest conservative critics, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Vatican's former ambassador to Washington. CHURCH DIVISIONS In an 11-page statement published on Aug. 26, Viganò launched an unprecedented broadside by a Church insider against the pope and a long list of Vatican and U.S. Church officials. He accused Francis of knowing about sexual misconduct by a former U.S. cardinal with male adult seminarians but not doing anything about it. Viganò, concluding that his former boss had singled him out as the devil in disguise, complained in his next statement that Francis "compared me to the great accuser, Satan, who sows scandal and division in the Church, though without ever uttering my name". On Sunday, a top Vatican official issued a scathing open letter accusing Viganò of mounting a "political frame job devoid of real foundation" and contesting his accusations against the pope point by point. Francis is so convinced that Satan is ultimately to blame for both the sexual abuse scandals and the divisions within the Church that he has enlisted the aid of spiritual big gun - St. Michael the Archangel. Michael is mentioned several times in the Bible as the leader of the angels who ousted Lucifer, the fallen angel, from paradise. Catholics are being asked to recite the rosary daily in October and conclude it with a prayer to St. Michael that was said after Mass until 1964 but then fell into disuse. The prayer reads: "St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defence against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls." (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Gareth Jones) -- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezzra Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 But i thought that the devil went down to Georgia: He was looking for a soul to stealHe was in a bind, 'cause he was way behind,He was willing to make a dealWhen he came across this young manSawing on a fiddle and playing it hotAnd the Devil jumped up on a hickory stump and said,"Boy let me tell you what:I guess you didn´t know it, but I'm a fiddle player too,And if you'd care to take a dare,I'll make a bet with youNow you play a pretty good fiddle,Boy, but give the Devil his dueI bet a fiddle of gold against your soul'Cause I think I'm better than you" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FritsSikkink Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 sue, blame it on something as you don't want to take any responsibility yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Credo Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Apparently "The Devil made me do it" is a defense in the Church. Unfortunately, the Bible doesn't mention the Devil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirineou Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 God is so unfair!! The devil makes as do it and yet he send as to Hell. What's up with that? I say we bring a class action suit against God, for unlawful imprisonment. He can afford a hefty settlement, only Jeff Bezos have more money than God. PS: include St Peter in the suit as co-conspirator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesofa Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBW Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 It's a 'touchy' subject ................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inThailand Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Amulets now needed for the Catholic church? Has he lost the lost the plot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AhFarangJa Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Ah, the old "The Devil made me do it" excuse number 2 in the book of excuses......the first excuse is "The Devil told me to do it"..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lungstib Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Help me, I've woken up in the 15th century! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexlowe Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Guess Frank ain't as gullible as we think: The greatest trick the Devil pulled was to convince the world that he doesn't exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodney earl Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Lost the plot. He and the religious organisations have never had the plot.!! ALL religions are about 3 things and 3 things only MONEY, POWER AND CONTROL OF THE POPULATION and all of their so called holy books are nothing more than fairy tales and how anyone could believe that drivel shows a lot about their mentality.!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBW Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 7 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said: Ah, the old "The Devil made me do it" excuse number 2 in the book of excuses......the first excuse is "The Devil told me to do it"..... #3. Moral brake failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wirat69 Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 55 minutes ago, Credo said: Unfortunately, the Bible doesn't mention the Devil. Ummmm..... but it mentions Satan some 700 times....... perhaps most famously in the form of a serpent beguiling Eve to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesofa Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 11 minutes ago, inThailand said: Amulets now needed for the Catholic church? Has he lost the lost the plot? The plot wasn't that good anyway as a work of fiction goes - too many characters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalmagic Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 When children die from horrible cancers or born with horrific defects we are told that it is god's will; surely the revelations of the church's sexual predators is also god's will? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farang62 Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 And Johnny should know, he wrote and sang a song about him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckamuck Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 1 hour ago, Credo said: Apparently "The Devil made me do it" is a defense in the Church. Unfortunately, the Bible doesn't mention the Devil. That is quite wrong, but I have noticed that people that haven't read the Bible have some very strange ideas about it. 23 instances of the devil in the Bible. I find the Pope's defense of the church bizarre however. He is basically admitting his priests are controlled by the devil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YetAnother Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 1 hour ago, webfact said: The devil is alive and well and working overtime to undermine the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis says. organized religion = headache Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesofa Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 10 minutes ago, animalmagic said: When children die from horrible cancers or born with horrific defects we are told that it is god's will; surely the revelations of the church's sexual predators is also god's will? I'm sure you're confusing it with pigswill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owl sees all Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 12 minutes ago, YetAnother said: organized religion = headache Organised religion; the devil in disguise 18 minutes ago, canuckamuck said: That is quite wrong, but I have noticed that people that haven't read the Bible have some very strange ideas about it. 23 instances of the devil in the Bible. 23; those devilish prime numbers at it again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalmagic Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 The temptation of Christ is detailed in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. According to these texts, after being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights in the Judaean Desert. During this time, Satan appeared to Jesus and tried to tempt him. I'm afraid that a cursory examination of the world today, and the activities of the catholic church, would suggest he might not have resisted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darcula Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Blaming the devil, the catholic church's equivalent of a brake failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendejo Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Flip Wilson, you are missed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Credo Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 23 minutes ago, canuckamuck said: That is quite wrong, but I have noticed that people that haven't read the Bible have some very strange ideas about it. 23 instances of the devil in the Bible. I find the Pope's defense of the church bizarre however. He is basically admitting his priests are controlled by the devil. You might want to read up about it. There was no Devil and no Satan. The word meant adversary and it was not a proper noun. The whole concept of the Devil was added and reinterpreted. There are many, many links. Here's one: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-interpretation/how-the-serpent-became-satan/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacuum Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 35 minutes ago, rodney earl said: Lost the plot. He and the religious organisations have never had the plot.!! ALL religions are about 3 things and 3 things only MONEY, POWER AND CONTROL OF THE POPULATION and all of their so called holy books are nothing more than fairy tales and how anyone could believe that drivel shows a lot about their mentality.!!! Amen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mauGR1 Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 11 minutes ago, animalmagic said: The temptation of Christ is detailed in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. According to these texts, after being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights in the Judaean Desert. During this time, Satan appeared to Jesus and tried to tempt him. I'm afraid that a cursory examination of the world today, and the activities of the catholic church, would suggest he might not have resisted. There is an episode in the Gospels, which is rarely mentioned, about Jesus going to the temple and raging against the priests. No wonder he was persecuted and later crucified. Should Jesus come back, surely he would have something to say about the vatican and the priests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneMoreFarang Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 And there are still many many millions of people who believe in god, angles, the devil, ... It would be unbelievable - if it wouldn't actually happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inThailand Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 The devil made me do it. I will try to use this excuse for my overstay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendejo Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 5 minutes ago, mauGR1 said: Should Jesus come back, surely he would have something to say about the vatican and the priests. If JC came back he would go to a synagogue, not to a church. He would paraphrase Groucho Marx and say "I would never belong to a religion that worships ME!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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