Devils, Demons, or Possession – What Does the Catholic Church Teach?
23 percent of Germans believe that devils, demons, or possession are real. Among young adults, that figure rises to 35 percent. But what does the Catholic Church teach about this?
23 percent of adults in Germany are certain or tend to believe that devils, demons, or possession exist. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, the figure is even higher, at 35 percent. This is the result of a representative YouGov survey conducted on behalf of the Katholische Nachrichten-Agentur among 2,525 adults.
The survey did not ask what the respondents understood by these terms. Behind the answers may lie Christian beliefs, but also superstition about ghosts or images from films and pop culture. The figure therefore says little about what these people actually believe. Still, it remains striking, especially among young adults.
But what does the Catholic Church say about devils, demons, and possession? Its teaching is quite specific. According to Catholic understanding, Satan and the demons are created spiritual beings. They were originally good angels who, of their own free will, turned against God. But how can a being created good by God become evil? Why is its decision final? And what power can a demon actually hold over a human being?
The Catholic Church's Teaching on Devils and Demons
The Catechism quotes the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created by God good by nature but they became evil by their own doing" (Fourth Lateran Council, 1215: DS 800). At the time, this formulation was also directed against dualistic ideas that were widespread among the so-called Cathars or Albigensians. They drew on older Manichaean ideas and assumed opposing principles of good and evil. The Church countered this with faith in a creator of all things visible and invisible. The devil, too, belongs to creation and is not a second power alongside God.
Satan therefore does not stand opposite God as a kind of evil counter-god. He is a creature, and as a creature he has a beginning. He owes his existence to God, but not his wickedness.
This raises the question of where evil comes from, if God created everything good. At the end of the creation account it says explicitly: "God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good" (Gen 1:31). For Catholic theology, Saint Augustine gave an answer that became foundational. Evil has no being of its own. It is privatio boni, a privation or lack of the good (Augustine, Enchiridion de fide, spe et caritate, 11). In his Confessions Augustine writes about created things that, as long as they exist, everything created is good (Confessions VII, 12). If all good were taken from them, they would cease to exist. From this he concludes that evil cannot be a substance of its own: "Therefore all things that exist are good, and that evil whose origin I was seeking is not a substance, for if it were a substance, it would be good" (Confessions VII, 12).
Thomas Aquinas develops this thought further. For him, evil is not a nature of its own. Everything that exists possesses something good as a creature. Thomas therefore writes: "It remains, then, that evil is nothing else than a privation of some particular good" (Summa Theologiae I, q. 48, a. 1). He therefore calls evil "a non-being" and "a non-good" (Summa Theologiae I, q. 48, a. 1).
Even the fallen angel, therefore, does not lose the nature that God created in him. Thomas explains that the natural gifts of demons remain. Their natural knowledge of God's mysteries was not extinguished by the fall (Summa Theologiae I, q. 64, a. 1). It is their will that is perverted. The devil, then, is not an evil being created by God. He is a being created good, whose will has turned against God.
Thomas also asks in what the first sin of an angel could have consisted. His answer is: pride. Precisely because angels are purely spiritual beings, bodily passions are ruled out as the origin of their first sin (Summa Theologiae I, q. 63, a. 1–2).
What does this pride mean? Satan could not seriously believe that he could become God himself. As a spiritual creature, he understood immediately that the equality of a finite being with the infinite God is impossible. His rebellion lay elsewhere: he wanted to achieve his perfection by his own power. Thomas explains that the fallen angel wanted to possess, by the power of his own nature, that final beatitude which can only be attained through God's grace (Summa theologiae I, q. 63, a. 3).
The decision of the fallen angels is irrevocable. The Catechism explains: “There is no repentance for the angels after the Fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death” (CCC 393. The sentence itself comes from Saint John Damascene in De fide orthodoxa II, 4; the Catechism explicitly adopts it at this point).
Thomas also explains why this decision remains final. Man moves from one thought to another through deliberation. He can later judge a matter differently, regret his decision, and turn back. With the angel, knowledge works differently. Once his will has fixed upon a goal after choosing, it clings to it firmly until the end. Thomas speaks explicitly of a will of the demons that is “hardened in evil”, while “that of the angels is confirmed in good” (Summa theologiae I, q. 64, a. 2).
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The New Testament speaks of Satan as a personal reality. Jesus is tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–11), calls him the “father of lies” (John 8:44), casts out demons (Mark 1:23–27), and gives his disciples authority over unclean spirits (Mark 6:7). The Catechism accordingly summarizes this biblical tradition: Scripture and Tradition recognize behind the tempter a fallen angel, “who is called ‘Satan’ or the ‘devil’” (CCC 391).
Anyone who understands the devil merely as an image for human wickedness must therefore explain why the New Testament repeatedly describes him as an acting counterpart: he speaks with Jesus, tempts him, is rebuffed by him, and appears as the leader of those unclean spirits whom Jesus casts out. Catholic teaching therefore understands Satan as a personal spiritual creature, and not merely as another name for evil in man.
What power do the devil and demons have?
The Catholic Church teaches the existence of Satan, but sets a clear limit to his power: “Satan’s power is, nonetheless, not infinite” (CCC 395). He remains a creature and cannot prevent the building up of God's kingdom. From this alone follows an important difference from dualism: God and Satan do not fight as two equally strong powers against each other. The devil can only act within the limits set for a creature like him.
Thomas naturally also asked how far the devil's influence over us can reach. His answer is clear: an angel, and thus also a demon, cannot directly compel the human will. Only God can do that (Summa theologiae I, q. 111, a. 2). A demon can, however, act upon our sensory powers and thereby arouse images or desires. We can thus be tempted, yet our decision remains our own.
Nor can the devil simply read a person's thoughts (Summa theologiae I, q. 57, a. 4). But one must distinguish between the thought itself and outward signs of that thought. Facial expression, physical changes, or other reactions can give indications of a person's inner life. According to Thomas, angels and demons can perceive such signs far more precisely than we can, and thus respond to them better. To know the interior of the heart directly, however, belongs to God alone (Summa theologiae I, q. 57, a. 4).
As a spiritual being, a demon possesses abilities far exceeding our own. Because of this, something can happen that appears to us like a miracle. The devil cannot perform a miracle in the proper sense. Thomas gives the reason: a true miracle surpasses the order of the whole of created nature. No creature is capable of that: “If we are to speak of miracles in the true sense of the word, then God alone can work them, and no creature, however exalted, can do so” (Summa theologiae I, q. 114, a. 4).
One more limit is important: not every human sin is attributable to the devil. Thomas's answer is no. Sin can also arise from man's free will and his disordered desires (Summa theologiae I, q. 114, a. 3). Man can choose evil without any demon having first acted upon him.
The ordinary temptation must be distinguished from what the Church refers to as possession. Catholic teaching does not exclude the possibility of such demonic influence. Precisely for this reason, the Church treats any such suspicion with great caution. The Catechism explains exorcism as the Church's request, in the name of Jesus Christ, that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion (CCC 1673). The Major Exorcism may only be performed by a priest and with "special and express permission" of the local ordinary (CIC can. 1172 § 1).
In this, the Church explicitly demands that illness be distinguished: "Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different matter; treating this is the concern of medical science" (CCC 1673). Possession thus constitutes an extraordinary case within Catholic teaching. The ordinary form of demonic influence is temptation. Yet even this does not negate human freedom. We remain responsible for our decisions.
What power does the devil have over Christians?
Catholic teaching on the devil and demons is therefore not an invitation to fear. It calls us to vigilance. The devil does not need to be "believed in" in order to act. But if we exclude his existence, neither temptation nor deception thereby disappears. On the contrary: we do not reckon with an opponent we consider nonexistent.
Yet we Christians are not defenseless against evil. In baptism we renounced Satan and belong to Christ. His grace strengthens us and helps us resist evil. The devil can tempt and deceive us, but he cannot take our decision away from us. We ourselves decide whom we follow.
And precisely here lies the reason why the teaching on the devil is not, for us Christians, a message of fear. Christ has not left us to a battle whose outcome is uncertain. The victory over evil has already begun, and we live from this victory: "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
About Lukasz Holfeld
Editor / author at Priesterausbildungshilfe.
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