Pope John Paul II reminded Catholic youths that they should take the Devil seriously. In a letter, he wrote: “You should not be afraid to call the first worker of badness by his name: the Evil One. He has used and continues to use the tactics of not revealing himself.”

Likewise, cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in Rome, stated: “Whatever the less discerning theologians may say, the devil, as far as Christian belief is concerned, is a puzzling but real, personal and not merely symbolical presence. He is a powerful reality.”

Giving the matter worldwide scope, the Paris daily International Herald Tribune wrote: “The interest in Satan’s possible presence in Turin is only part of a broader discussion within the Roman Catholic Church about the personification of evil referred to variously in Scripture and church teaching as ‘the prince of this world,’ ‘the power of darkness,’ the ‘ancient serpent,’ the ‘slanderer.’”

French Academy member Jean Dutourd made some interesting comments on modern-day doubts about Satan’s existence​—even by Catholic prelates. He wrote in the French daily L’Est-Républicain: “Belief in God is rather frowned upon these days, but it is more or less tolerated. Belief in the Devil, however, is looked upon as completely ridiculous. The mere mention of the name Satan . . . highly amuses intellectuals, the bourgeois, politicians, and also, no doubt, a goodly number of bishops. Their mirth surprises me all the more because it would seem that the Devil has been giving us particular attention since 1914.”