Pope Francis — "The devil exists, and he is a real person, not a myth."
The devil exists, and he is a real person, not a myth.
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More from Pope Francis
"A pastor who does not pray is a pastor who is in danger."
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About Pope Francis (born 1936)
First Latin American and Jesuit pope (2013-), who has steered the Catholic Church toward pastoral inclusion on LGBTQ pastoral care, divorced Catholics, and climate. Closely associated with Pope John XXIII (the Vatican II reformer pope) and Cardinal Walter Kasper (his theological ally on pastoral reform). For an intellectual contrast, see Cardinal Raymond Burke, American traditionalist cardinal, former head of the Vatican Apostolic Signatura — Burke is the public face of Catholic traditionalism that views Francis's pastoral approach as doctrinally dangerous — he has formally challenged Amoris Laetitia and other Francis reforms.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
The quote asserts that evil is not merely a metaphor, psychological construct, or symbol of human weakness, but an actual personal being with agency and intent. It pushes back against secular and progressive theological tendencies to reduce Satan to allegory. Francis insists evil has a source, an intelligence, a will—and treating it as myth leaves people spiritually unguarded, unable to recognize or resist genuine moral and spiritual danger in their lives.
Relevance to Pope Francis
Formed by Ignatian spirituality as a Jesuit, Francis was trained to discern spirits—including what Ignatius called the 'enemy of human nature.' He has referenced the devil throughout his papacy in homilies, interviews, and exhortations. As a reformist confronting clerical corruption, abuse scandals, and institutional inertia, Francis frames spiritual combat as inseparable from pastoral renewal. For him, naming the devil concretely isn't medieval superstition—it's the theological foundation for understanding how institutions and individuals become corrupted.
The era
In the 21st century, secularization eroded belief in a personal devil even among practicing Catholics. Francis became pope in 2013 amid clerical abuse crises, global polarization, and declining Western religiosity. A culture that psychologizes evil and dismisses supernatural categories made his literal affirmation of Satan's existence deliberately countercultural. His statement reclaimed traditional Catholic cosmology at a moment when progressive theology often spiritualized or demythologized Scripture's adversarial figures into mere symbols of systemic injustice.
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