In an interview with a Catholic media outlet, Pope Francis provided some unnerving insight into the nature of Satan.
Perhaps the most chilling among his musings were that the devil is not simply some kind of boogeyman invented to frighten people, but is actually a genuine incarnation of evil.
"He's not like mist. He's not a diffuse thing, he is a person," Pope Francis told the Italy-based broadcast network TV2000.
Although he did not speak to the possible identity of the devil, His Holiness did express concern about anyone who may encounter the wicked individual and foolishly engage him.
"I’m convinced that one must never converse with Satan," Pope Francis said, "he's more intelligent than us, and he'll turn you upside down."
The Pope went on lament that the devil "always pretends to be polite - he does it with priests, with bishops. That’s how he enters your mind. But it ends badly if you don’t realize what is happening in time."
Some theologians attribute Pope Francis' words as well as his previous statements regarding Satan to his Jesuit background, but stress that the Pontiff speaks quite seriously when he talks of the devil and his nefarious ways.
While that may be the case, one also can't help but wonder if perhaps the Pope's knowledge of Satan is also informed by his role as the head of the Catholic Church and whatever secrets he may have been told upon assuming the position.
To that end, it's far more troubling to hear that Satan is a living being that can outsmart humans when it is said by the Pope rather than the guy on the corner handing out Chick Tracts.
Source: The Telegraph