Jesse Romero - The Devil in the City of Angels: My Encounters With the Diabolical

B ecause one out of three (Catholic) theologians does not believe in the existence of Satan; almost two out of three believe in his existence but not in his practical actions and refuse to take it into account in pastoral activity. This leaves very little room for those who believe and try to act accordingly. The few exceptions are forced to act against the tide, and often are ridiculed and ostracized by the rest of the clergy. These statistics were gathered in West Germany in 1974 and were published in the Concilium. Those who dont preach the truth from the pulpit about the reality of the devil and hell are guilty of ecclesiastical malpractice. Those teachers who are cowardly preachers in this life, if they dont repent, will experience climate change in the next life.

It is not surprising that our clergys failings and weaknesses have been laid bare for all to see in extreme fashion in recent months and years. Our Lady of Akita, Japan, said to Sr. Sasagawa in 1973 regarding the intensity of demons against our clergy:

The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them.

Here is another reason I wrote this book: Catholics dont believe in the devil!

A recent study reveals that Catholics are among the least likely to agree that Satan is a living being. That finding was published by the Center for Research on the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. A recent survey of 1,495 US adults who believe in God reveals that Evangelical Christians are nearly three times more likely than Catholics to believe that Satan is a living being. Fifty-five percent of Evangelical Christians interviewed view Satan as an active and cunning adversary as described in the New Testament while only 17 percent of all Catholics polled indicated that they viewed Satan as a living presence in the world. Rather, Catholics are more likely to view Satan as a symbol of evil rather than a real living being. Contrast that with Catholic teaching as found within the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which describes Satan as a real being, specifically a fallen angel who rebelled against God (CCC 39195).

Venerable Fulton Sheen observed more than fifty years ago that the Churchs real problem was that our theologians have neglected the demonic. The demonic is always most powerful when he is denied. It is almost impossible today to find a theologian writing about the demonic, unless it be to deny it. The problem is worse today much worse.

In 2017, Cardinal Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia wrote the following of the Polish intellectual and convert Leszek Kolakowski:

Exactly 30 years ago, Kolakowski gave a lecture at Harvard entitled The Devil in History. Kolakowski saw that we cant fully understand our culture unless we take the devil seriously. The devil and evil are constants at work in human history and in the struggles of every human soul. And note that Kolakowski (unlike some of our own Catholic leaders who should know better) was not using the word devil as a symbol of the darkness in our own hearts, or a metaphor for the bad things that happen in the world. He was talking about the spiritual being Jesus called the evil one and the father of liesthe fallen angel who works tirelessly to thwart Gods mission and Christs work of salvation. This is why the evangelization of culture is