The Devil (Conclusion): The Catechism of the Church

The Devil; to many people this is the embodiment of evil and, to others, he is a principle or quality- even symbol- of evil.  However, the Catholic Church sees him as a real being.  Interestingly, the Church tends to conflate the devil with the name “Satan”, with the traditional aspects of Lucifer.  The being of Lucifer has spawned a separate philosophy.  Luciferianism is not a defined religion, but rather a belief system that admires and venerates the characteristics and personality traits exhibited by Lucifer as represented in the literature and the various books of the Hebrew Bible. Although Luciferianism is often confused with Satanism due the fact that Satan is defined as a fallen Lucifer, in reality, Luciferians do not worship Satan in any way and instead model themselves after the original Lucifer, a character of enlightenment, independence, and progressiveness. Many among the Luciferians see Satan and Lucifer as symbols of different aspects of the same being—the carnal, rebellious and material Satan vs. the enlightened and spiritual Lucifer. Luciferians also tend to see Satanists as overly-dependent on Christian understandings. From the Luciferian perspective, Satanists embrace values such as pleasure, success, and sexuality precisely because the Christian Church has traditionally condemned such things. Luciferians do not see their choices as acts as rebellion but instead, believe themselves to be motivated by independent thought.  In short, Luciferians put more emphasis on the balance of light and dark, seeing Satanism as a more one-sided belief system. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church deals with this subject powerfully and philosophically;

391: Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy.  Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the "devil". The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."

392: Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. This "fall" consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter's words to our first parents: "You will be like God."  The devil "has sinned from the beginning"; he is "a liar and the father of lies".

393: It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death."

394: Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the beginning", who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Father. "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." In its consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God..

395: The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God's reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries - of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature- to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but "we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him."

Pope Francis also affirms, in his 2010 book On Heaven and Earth,  the existence of the Devil; "I believe that the Devil exists" and "his greatest achievement in these times has been to make us believe that he doesn't exist,"   According to many Vatican watchers, this theme is common in his teachings and sermons

Therefore, the Church takes a decidedly Biblical view of the “Devil”.  Perhaps, the most powerful Biblical text regarding the Devil is Ephesians 6:11-12; “Put on the complete suit of armor from God so that you may be able to stand firm against the crafty acts of the Devil; because we have a struggle, not against blood and flesh, but against the governments, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places”.  

Overall, the Devil, with his conflated and competing names, still poses a threat to the Church.  He should not be easily dismissed from our consciousness.  But he can not match the power of the Cross.