Pope Francis is another in a long line of popes to fall victim to one of the sillier pieces of ancient mythology. He recently stated that the devil is real despite there being absolutely no hard evidence of the existence of Satan. Francis has been making so many factual and rational statements in recent months that it was beginning to seem as though he was finally going to bring the Catholic church out of the dark ages of ignorance and blind adherence to myth and into an age of science and reason. Just this week he came out and said that the Big Bang is real and evolution is true, so many people began to get their hopes up that this pope might be the one to propel Catholicism into the current century.
Sadly, it appears that it is not to be. Pope Francis seemingly believes that the devil is an actual entity. In fact, he seems more convinced about the existence of the devil than he does about the existence of God. Francis got atheists into a collective paroxysm of excitement when he stated that God is not “a magician with a magic wand able to do everything.” He then went on to say that he accepts the Big Bang. By accepting the Big Bang, he is essentially leaving the door open for the idea that the universe could have sprung forth from nothing.
While Pope Francis says that God cannot do everything and is not magic, the devil, Francis says, “exists and we must fight against him.” No talk of the devil not being some magical creature; Francis seems to imply that the devil has an awful lot of power.
The devil myth has existed in almost every culture from the beginning of time with his personification being expressed in various incarnations. Catholicism certainly does not have the market cornered on a belief in Satan but now that the pope has come forward to reiterate this belief, he has probably pleased some of the more conservative Catholics in his flock.
Pope Francis has disappointed a lot of freethinkers today as he seems to have fallen victim to ancient mythology. Many would say that the statement that the pope is a victim of mythology is a redundancy, but with his recent statements, freethinkers had hoped for better. Francis says the devil is real despite all evidence to the contrary. Perhaps Francis really believes it or perhaps he is just towing the party line to calm conservative Catholics who have been displeased with his previous liberal sentiments.
