The Smoke of Satan

The first time I remember hearing the phrase was the fall of 1997.  I was still in formation and a priest I was in community with, who also taught in the seminary, was reading a book called The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Descent in Contemporary American Catholicism by Michael W. Cuneo.  He had it in his place in chapel, and as I was walking in with another confrere, also a student, he flashed it to us, giving a sly little smile.  He seemed kind of proud of himself, fancying his own subversive cool.  I haven't read the book, so will leave it alone.  What I came to find out is that the term, "the smoke of Satan," traces back to a homily given by Pope Paul VI in 1972.  It was the Feast of Peter and Paul, the ninth anniversary of his papal coronation, and the pope was celebrating Mass at St. Peter's (I'll have more to say about that later).  Over the years many, usually more traditionally minded thinkers than the fore mentioned Mr. Cuneo, have pointed here and their identifying some disturbing trend or event as this "diabolical smoke entering God's sanctuary through some unseen fissure," to paraphrase the late pontiff.  More recently it was allegedly used in a fund raising letter by Priests for Life to describe the problems they've had lately.  I talked about that already, so won't repeat myself.  But what did Paul VI intend by this rather provocative line?  In truth, it's hard to say, but we can give it a try.

The main challenge in interpreting the pope's words is that the homily doesn't have an official English translation, and the Italian transcript on the Vatican website is not really a transcript at all but a summery of what he said.  Admittedly my Italian is next to nothing, so the full text wouldn't help me anyway.  I did find an unofficial translation that isolates the pertinent passage, along with the blog author's own take on the subject.  The Pope, as I see it, was commenting on the confusion that followed the Council, and those within the Church who were searching for ultimate meaning apart from the truth of the Gospel.  They took the sciences, and I'm guessing he meant the social sciences in particular, political theory and social activism and made them the driving principles of Christian action instead of using them as tools at the Gospel's service.  These tendencies brought with them a disordered understanding of the human person and of our vocation as children of God.  With this comes:

doubt, incertitude, problematic, disquiet, dissatisfaction, confrontation.  There is no longer trust of the Church; they trust the first profane prophet who speaks in some journal or some social movement, and they run after him and ask him if he has the formula of true life.  And we are not alert to the fact that we are already the owners and masters of the formula of true life.  Doubt has entered our consciences, and it entered by windows that should have been open to the light. (from the unofficial translation)

What the Holy Father meant in a particular way will always be up for debate considering the questionable source material we have at our disposal.  But we can still come to certain conclusions:

1. The Pope was not speaking in purely metaphoric language.  The Pope made several comments around that time that caused a stir in the press about the Devil being active in the world and the Church, trying to undermine the Holy Spirit working through the Council.  Paul VI was seen at first as a progressive, but when he reaffirmed the traditional Church teachings on artificial contraception, celibate priests and the all male priesthood the tide of opinion among the intelligentsia turned against him.  Then he went and made these comments about Satan being a real, personal force and not simply a metaphor for our psychological "hangups" he was pilloried, and in many ways isolated, all the more.  But he never backed down and never, as far as I know, tried to distance himself from or clarify his statements to please the popular tastes of the time.

2. These words have a meaning beyond the particular circumstances they were addressing. While the Holy Father was commenting on a particular crisis within the Church immediately after the Council, in reality Satan is always trying to undermine the work Christ accomplished.  He can never undo Jesus' redeeming act, but he can hinder us from participating in the life of grace that the sacraments, in a special way, opens up for us.  So we always need to be on guard against this very real threat to the Mystical Body in every age and situation.

3. Paul VI gives us the warning signs to watch for.  Satan works by causing dissension, confusion, doubt and mistrust.  He thrives in chaos and division.  There is a time to discuss and debate, to be sure.  Disagreements among believers are not on their own signs of some diabolical influence.  But when priests, religious sister and brothers or other "public" Catholics come out in the secular, or even religious press, contradicting and criticizing Church teachings and legitimate directives, and encourage others to do the same, they are, even unintentionally, contributing to the confusion that helps this proverbial smoke spread.

I'm sure there is more we can say on this, and I will in the future.