- Feb 5, 2002
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The famous phrase from Pope St. Paul VI is widely invoked in discussions about the Catholic Church. But what did he actually have in mind?
In recent weeks, as the Church marked the 60th anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council, a quotation from Pope St. Paul VI — “from some fissure the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God” — began circulating widely online.
The line, drawn from a 1972 homily, is often taken as a frank admission that Vatican II was a big mistake — that in the years following the council, the Church had been subverted by evil forces bent on destroying her from within. In this reading, “the temple of God” refers to the Vatican; the “smoke of Satan” to corrupt or heretical clergymen; and the “fissure” (sometimes translated as “crack”) to the modernizing reforms of Vatican II.
But is this what Paul VI really said?
As with many such quotations circulating online, numerous versions of the passage appear with no reliable source cited or linked — an immediate red flag. Fortunately, the original (and brief) homily, delivered on June 29, 1972, is available on the Vatican’s website in Italian, and an English translation is available on Jimmy Akin’s website.
What do we find there? Not only that the “smoke of Satan” line has been pulled from its context — and in some cases, rearranged or stitched together inaccurately — but that Paul VI’s overall message runs largely opposite to its popular portrayal.
Here is the passage in question:
Continued below.
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In recent weeks, as the Church marked the 60th anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council, a quotation from Pope St. Paul VI — “from some fissure the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God” — began circulating widely online.
The line, drawn from a 1972 homily, is often taken as a frank admission that Vatican II was a big mistake — that in the years following the council, the Church had been subverted by evil forces bent on destroying her from within. In this reading, “the temple of God” refers to the Vatican; the “smoke of Satan” to corrupt or heretical clergymen; and the “fissure” (sometimes translated as “crack”) to the modernizing reforms of Vatican II.
But is this what Paul VI really said?
As with many such quotations circulating online, numerous versions of the passage appear with no reliable source cited or linked — an immediate red flag. Fortunately, the original (and brief) homily, delivered on June 29, 1972, is available on the Vatican’s website in Italian, and an English translation is available on Jimmy Akin’s website.
What do we find there? Not only that the “smoke of Satan” line has been pulled from its context — and in some cases, rearranged or stitched together inaccurately — but that Paul VI’s overall message runs largely opposite to its popular portrayal.
Here is the passage in question:
Continued below.
What Paul VI Said — and Didn’t Say — About the ‘Smoke of Satan’
COMMENTARY: The famous phrase from Pope St. Paul VI is widely invoked in discussions about the Catholic Church. But what did he actually have in mind?
