Jesuit Superior General: Satan is a Symbolic Reality.’

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VATICAN CITY — The superior general of the Society of Jesus said Aug. 21 that the devil is a symbol, but not a person.

www.ncregister.com

Jesuit Superior General: Satan is a ‘Symbolic Reality’

Father Sosa’s remarks came after he participated in a panel discussion at a Catholic gathering in Rimini, Italy, organized by the Communion and Liberation ecclesial movement.
www.ncregister.com www.ncregister.com
 
Didn’t this guy say the same thing about 2 years ago? I think we all know where he stands on the devil. I think it’s also safe to say that the vast majority of priests running around today as well as the vast majority of Catholics are ignoring him.

Given his age we won’t have to be concerned for long about his ideas.
 
GiftofMercy said:
This article is from 2 years ago. Its translation is extremely strange. In part it reads like an Email from a scam
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Huh? The article posted is dated August 21, 2019 and is from the National Catholic Register, a respected Catholic news publication that nas been around a long time. The Catholic News Agency is also on the article; they are another respectable outlet for Catholic news. There is nothing strange about the article.

It references the 2017 situation where the priest made similar remarks, but it appears to be referring to a new instance of him making remarks in 2019.
 
Complete translation of Fr. Sosa’s 2019 remarks on the devil, from the Tempi article that was in Italian and is cited by National Catholic Register:
Q. Padre Sosa, does the devil exist?

A. In different ways. We need to understand the cultural elements to refer to this character. In the language of Saint Ignatius it is the bad spirit that leads you to do things that go against the spirit of God. It exists as the evil personified in different structures but not in people, because it is not a person, it is a way of implementing the bad. He is not a person like a human person. It is a way of evil to be present in human life. Good and evil are in a permanent struggle in human consciousness, and we have ways to indicate them. We recognize God as good, entirely good. Symbols are part of reality, and the devil exists as a symbolic reality, not as a personal reality.
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Again, similar to what he said in 2017, but this appears to be a new interview with him. Probably the interviewer asked the same question again hoping he’d say something controversial and newsworthy.

I remember we did have the conversation before when this came up about his position possibly being to counteract the “devil made me do it” or “possession” mentality that may be prevalent in the culture he is from.
 
We are free to disagree with and question his view from a standpoint of its seeming to contradict Church teaching on the Devil. There are quite a few other priests I follow who are holy and learned who disagree with his view in a big way.

The fact that he runs a major order and the Pope is a member does not make him somehow more of an authority than other holy priests.

This forum is for Catholics to discuss and sometimes debate in a respectful way. I see no disrespect in the thread. And the Jesuits are known for having quite a few unusual, edgy or controversial views. It is not surprising that not everybody is going to jump on board with this view of Fr. Sosa’s.
 
Obey who, or how, precisely, in regard to this article? How are you suggesting that we should manifest obedience in this situation?
 
I did not take a vow of obedience to Fr. Sosa. If you did, then that’s your issue.

Fr. Sosa is not the Pope, nor are his views on the Devil material from the Catechism.

Where did you get the idea that we just obey a priest because he’s “head of a major order” when we are not members of the order?

Additionally, you are a brand new poster. I find it a bit odd that you would start with this topic rather than simply participating in a more neutral way for your initial posts. It raises some questions as to whether you are posting in good faith here.
 
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choose_to_love said:
Obey who, or how, precisely, in regard to this article? How are you suggesting that we should manifest obedience in this situation?
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Especially since many priests disagree with Fr. Sosa. If the premise is “we are supposed to obey priests” then there is no way to “obey” one here without “disobeying” others.
 
Catholic25 said:
Father Sosa has had extensive training in theology
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That doesn’t make him Infallible.
Catholic25 said:
Therefore, his views on the faith deserve attention, respect, and obedience.
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While he’s entitled to his own opinions, I’m still free to disagree with him on this subject.
Catholic25 said:
It is easy to disagree with a priest in good standing.
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Once again, he’s not infallible nor is he speaking for the Church. Many Clergy disagree with him and I do too.
Catholic25 said:
It is harder to do the right thing and obey.
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I’m NOT obligated to obey Fr. Sosa.
 
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Catholic25 said:
Clergy should be respected. Father Sosa is the Superior General of a major order, one of whose members is the Pope. Father Sosa has had extensive training in theology, and is not under any sort of sanction from the Church.

Therefore, his views on the faith deserve attention, respect, and obedience.
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His words are at odds with official church teaching. Deviance from Church teaching is called heresy, which is not deserving of respect, and certainly not obedience.
 
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I can do both, while standing on one foot and chewing Big League Chew. One need not disobey their Bishop while agreeing with Fr. Sosa that the devil isn’t real.
 
Well, they do keep asking the man the same question over and over again so they will have something “shocking” to write about.

At this point I’m kinda like, eh, Fr. Sosa and his weird ideas about the Devil again, “boring, boring, boring, Sid, boring.”
 
Well he is wrong about a basic and elementary position of the faith. Kind of embarrassing the things that some people say.
 
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Catholic25 said:
It is easy to disagree with a priest in good standing.

It is harder to do the right thing and obey.
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I think I’ll stick with obeying the Holy Father and the Deposit of Faith left by Christ. I am under no obligation to “obey” this Jesuit. I’m a Dominican, not a Jesuit.
 
Edward Peters says this:

“The existence of the devil as a personal reality, and not merely as a symbol of evil, is an article of faith (Ott, Fundamentals 126-131; CCC 395, 2851). Denial of an article of faith is an element of the canonical crime of heresy (1983 CIC 751), an act punishable by measures up to and including excommunication, dismissal from the clerical state, and/or loss of ecclesiastical office (1983 CIC 1364, 194).”

However, for canonical purposes, it’s not heresy unless it is officially charged as such. And nobody, it seems, does that anymore.
 
I think we all could say that Father Sosa disagrees with the Pope on the person hood of the Devil.
So who do you follow? Sosa, or the Church?
 
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