Devil’s Advocate Was An Official Profession In Catholic Churches
An Advocate defied the church’s ruling of Mother Teresa being saintly.
The task of a Devil’s Advocate (or as I prefer to call it, DA) was an actual job in the Catholic Church for centuries. Unfortunately, it wasn’t made to challenge the ministry (of magic).
The Devil’s Advocates were the olden-days version of lawyers who would contest a candidate’s canonization. This implies their full-time job in Catholic Churches was to judge and announce whether the deceased person qualifies to be labelled as a saint.
Life of a Devil’s Advocate
Not only did these people get a job, but they also got a fancy title, “Advocates Diaboli”. Nice. Count me in!
The original meaning of the phrase “Devil’s advocate” is very similar to its current meaning.
Nowadays, it merely refers to a speaker of an unpopular stance who does so to prompt discussion or assess the potency of the opposition’s arguments. So, something I steer clear of due to my mom’s scarily accurate aim and the ever-so-famous pair of chappal or slippers.
The Devil’s Advocates would argue against “God’s Advocates” to decide whether a person deserves sainthood or not. They achieved this by looking at the proof of the miracles linked to the candidate. Additionally, they cross-examined witnesses and sought character defects in the candidate.
While this practice ended in 1983, there were some instances when DAs did pop out. This article is about one such man, a certain Christopher Hitchens.
How It All Began
Let me take you back in time to 1588 when Pope Sixtus V decided that he needed someone to do his work for him. Well. Not exactly.
This guy just decided to form the Congregatio Sacrorum Rituum to look into the background of individuals who were thought to have accomplished miracles during their lifetime and were, therefore, deserving of sainthood. These guys were, for sure, very invested in the task bestowed upon them.
Paolo Parigi, a scholar, states in his book, The Rationalization of Miracles, that Europeans in 1588 and for centuries that preceded, tended to follow the word of the church without questioning the so-called miracles that happened.
This congregation, and by extension, the DA, was a way of suppressing the Protestants who questioned the Vatican’s legitimacy and stopping local mystics from gaining independent followings that may threaten the Catholic Church’s unity.
According to Parigi, the Devil’s advocate played a minor yet significant role in a substantial effort to regulate the canonization process.
A Catholic Version of Apollo and Artemis
Just as Apollo and Artemis took over the jobs of Selene and Helios, the DAs and God’s Advocates took over the jobs that previously required a lot of people.
While the God’s Advocate’s job was previously handled by a Proctor, a group of people was required to perform the job that was later handed to the DAs.
These poor guys, commissioners, had to keep an eye out for any inconsistencies within the testimony.
They were asked, among other things, to provide the precise dates and locations of miracles, as per one primary source that Gerulaitis quoted. Thankfully, this job was now given to one person, which simplified this complex process.
Supernatural World’s Connection With Catholic Church
Miracles play an important role in the Catholic Church and beatification. The main role of a Devil’s Advocate was to define the limits of the supernatural i.e. to say that they had to ultimately decide what was or was not a genuine miracle.
To sum it up, they played the role of politicians by creating false miracles. Thus, scoring a point for the Church by legitimizing the Church’s claim that it alone was the Guardian of all things Supernatural.
It Ends With Us John Paul II
The DA’s powers were greatly reduced in 1983, roughly 4 centuries after it was made an official job, by John Paul II. Whatever reason he had, he never mentioned. Yeah, sure. Leave us in the dark.
While this guy did a great job, individual DAs did keep popping up refuting the Church’s claims of otherworldly miracles. Someone even came up to criticize the great Mother Teresa and her canonization.
Everyone knows about Mother Teresa and how much of a pure soul she was. But was she really how she was portrayed? Now that is a story everyone needs to know.
The Dark Side Of Mother Teresa and the Church
Mother Teresa, Nobel prize winner, and the founder of Missionaries of Charity. She is one of the most renowned personalities who worked for the poor and sick. Who would blame such a pure and untainted soul? But, was she really such a person? Or was it just a facade?
Well, Hitchens believed otherwise. He wanted to uncover this lady’s so-called pure persona and he did. He contested the church’s decision of giving Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (now known as Mother Teresa) the title of Saint.
After all, it had been but a year since she passed. The rule that a dead person could only be given sainthood after 5 years of death was there for a reason.
At least Hitchens thought so. And he wasn’t the only one. There were a few people who also explored deep into the darker side of one of the greatest humanitarians of the 20th century.
Hitchens’ anger was also directed at John Paul II who he accused of creating more instant saints than all his predecessors combined. Spoken like a true Devil’s Advocate.
This guy also believed that the Pope was giving in to popularity and showbiz. Ughh. The nerve of this guy to treat religion like some TV drama or Reality show that works based on popularity.
Hitchens v John Paul II. Who is correct?
This is some serious drama and it needs an answer. Who is correct? Is it the Devil’s Advocate or the Pope? Is Mother Teresa really the person she was made out to be? Should the DA be given that important position it had before? So many questions and no definite answer for anyone.
Diving into such matters always brings out the problem of deciding what is wrong and what is not.
But, we do need to see that it was a Devil’s Advocate who pointed out the errors in Mother Teresa’s life and the Church does need a Devil’s Advocate.
After all, the task of deciding the admission of a dead person into sainthood is a heavy one!
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