Catholic Replies
Editor’s Note: Commenting on the moral darkness afflicting our society today, Fr. George Rutler wrote in his parish bulletin (Church of St. Michael in New York City) that “Christ is the original light of the world, uncreated, and from whom all earthly light proceeds. Without Christ, the intellect darkens, and this moral myopia is the affliction of our present time. Celebrities illuminated by stage lights can utter some of the darkest blasphemies against human dignity. Professors who think of themselves as ‘bright’ can obscure the logic of their students. When the lights of truth go out, and the corridors of civilization fill with the smoke of Satan, the only sure guides are the prophets and the saints.”
Fr. Rutler said that “in saying that the blind will lead the blind into a ditch (Luke 6:39), Christ was referring to the morally blind, and not the physically blind. . . . The contemporary term ‘Fake News’ does indeed expose the tendency of prejudiced opinion to conceal the Light of Truth. . . . In garishly bright city streets filled with people in danger of moral meanderings, each church is meant to be a beacon that saves people from falling into the ditch.
“The Vigil Lamp before the parish altar may seem frail, and its flame small, but it is a flickering reminder that ‘every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’ (James 1:17).”
Q. Can you tell me the origin of Hell and the Devil? Where did they come from? — W.M., Massachusetts.
A. The origin of both begins with the rebellion of the bad angels in Heaven, as recounted in the Book of Revelation:
“Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it” (12:7-9).
In his Second Letter, St. Peter said that “God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but condemned them to the chains of Tartarus and handed them over to be kept for judgment” (2:4). Tartarus is a term borrowed from Greek mythology that refers to the lower regions of the underworld where the wicked are imprisoned.
In his brief letter, Jude says that “the angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgment of the great day” (1:6). The words “deserted their proper dwelling” are thought to refer to a Jewish tradition, based on Gen. 6:1-4, that rebel angels came down from Heaven to have sexual relations with women. Their wicked actions led God to send them to the dark underworld to await their final punishment.
More insight about the role of Satan can be found in the book An Exorcist Tells His Story by the late Fr. Gabriel Amorth, formerly the chief exorcist for Rome. In the book, Fr. Amorth made the following comments:
“Satan was the most perfect being created by the hands of God. His God-given authority and superiority over the other angels are recognized by all, so he thought that he had the same authority over everything that God was creating. Satan tried to understand all of creation, but could not, because all the plan of creation was oriented toward Christ. Until Christ came into the world, God’s plan could not be revealed in its entirety. Hence Satan’s rebellion. He wanted to continue to be the absolute first, the center of creation, even if it meant opposing God’s design.
“This is why Satan continually tries to dominate the world (‘the whole world is in the power of the evil one’ — 1 John 5:19). Beginning with our forefathers, he seeks to enslave men by making them obey himself and disobey God. He was successful with our forefathers, Adam and Eve, and he hoped to continue with all men with the help of ‘a third of the angels,’ who, according to the Book of Revelation, followed him in rebellion against God” (p. 26).
We don’t know how many angels God created, but it must have been billions since every person who ever lived has had a guardian angel (cf. Matt. 18:10). We also don’t know how many of them rebelled against God at the beginning, but the Book of Revelation (verses 12:4 and 12:9) says that the tail of the “huge red dragon” swept away “a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to earth.” This verse has led to the speculation that one-third of the angels fell from Heaven.
The reason for their fall was explained in the 1975 Vatican document entitled Christian Faith and Demonology. According to the document, a majority of the early Church Fathers “saw the angels’ pride as the reason for their fall. The ‘pride’ of the angels was manifested in their desire to exalt themselves above their condition, to maintain complete independence, and to make themselves divine. Many Fathers, however, emphasized not only the pride of the angels but also their malice toward men. For St. Irenaeus, the Devil’s apostasy began when he became jealous of man and sought to make him rebel against his Creator.”
Q. In 1937, Pope Pius XI, at great personal peril, sent to the German bishops for dissemination the encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge, which defied Hitler and condemned the policies of the Third Reich. One would hope for similar clarity from the USCCB on the question of abortion, including a condemnation of politicians who support abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. This isn’t at personal peril and at worst would result in a reduction of government funding for their favorite social programs. Have the bishops lost that much credibility that their admonitions would be simply laughed at? — J.M., via e-mail.
A. As long as the bishops speak out on subjects like climate change, gun control, immigration, and the death penalty, and take the position favored by the cultural elite and the “fake news” media, they will have plenty of credibility. But let them speak out against abortion or same-sex “marriage,” and their credibility will disappear fast. Not only do the bishops, with a few courageous exceptions, fail to criticize those politicians who promote immoral policies, they don’t even try to keep those who call themselves Catholics from the sacrilegious reception of Holy Communion.
Furthermore, individual bishops seem to have no qualms in going against the official policy of the USCCB to deny a platform to these fake Catholics. In a U.S. bishops’ document entitled Catholics in Political Life, it says that “the Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors, or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
And yet just recently, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, who marches in “Gay Pride” parades and who wants to make Boston a sanctuary city for abortion, was invited for the third or fourth time to speak at an annual dinner honoring the priesthood. With Sean Cardinal O’Malley sitting nearby, Walsh had the gall to say that the Catholic Church has shaped his life. A few days later, he would join a rally outside the State House to demand that lawmakers pass the ROE Act, which would end all restrictions on abortion, and declare that “abortion is health care, plain and simple.”
What is really plain and simple is that Cardinal O’Malley and his fellow bishops, who recently issued a wildly inaccurate statement on climate change (cf. our October 10th column), can undermine their opposition to abortion, and cause scandal among the faithful, by giving pro-abortion politicians like Marty Walsh an honored place at the table.
It is deeds that matter, and not words, and it is long past time for all of our bishops to demonstrate the courage of Pope Pius XI and cease fraternizing with the Church’s enemies and damaging the hierarchy’s credibility with the faithful — and with God.
