"Satan", is not just a symbolic figure to speak of evil?
R / Following of Christ and the Hebrew tradition, the Church teaches l'existence d'entités spirituelles que l'on nomme "anges" et "démons", comme en témoignent ces extraits du Catéchisme :
L'existence des anges - une vérité de foi
328 L'existence des êtres spirituels, non-corporels, que l'Ecriture sainte nomme habituellement anges, est une vérité de foi. Le témoignage de l'Ecriture est aussi net que l'unanimité de la Tradition.
Qui sont-ils?
329 S. Augustin dit à leur sujet: "Angelus officii nomen est, non naturæ. Quæris nomen huius naturæ, spiritus est; quæris officium, angelus est: ex eo quod est, spiritus est, ex eo quod agit, angelus" (Psal. 103.1, 15). Their whole being, the angels are servants and messengers of God. Because they contemplate "constantly face of my Father in heaven" (Mt 18.10), they are "workers of his word, attentive to the sound of his word" (Psalm 103.20).
330 As purely spiritual creatures, they have intelligence and will: they are personal creatures (cf. Pius XII: DS 3801) and immortal (cf. Lk 20.36). They surpass in perfection all visible creatures. The brightness of their reflected glory (cf. Da 10.9 to 12).
Christ "with all his angels"
331 The Christ is the center of the angelic world. They are his angels to Him: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels ..." (Mt 25,31). They are to Him because created by and for him: "For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers-all was created by Him and for Him "(Col. 1:16). They are to Him more because He has made them messengers of his plan of salvation: "Is that all are not ministering spirits, sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14).
Falling Angels
391 Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents there is a seductive voice, opposed to God (cf. Gen 3.4 to 5) who, through envy, makes them fall in death (cf. Wis 2:24). Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel called Satan or the devil (cf. Jn 8.44; Rev 12.9). The Church teaches that it was at first a good angel, made by God. "Diabolus enim et alii quidem Deo daemon natura creati sunt boni, sed ipsi per se facti sunt Mali" (cc. Lateran IV in 1215: DS 800).
392 Scripture speaks of a sin of the angels (cf. 2P 2.4). This "fall" consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and His Kingdom. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter's words to our first parents: "You become like God" (Gen 3.5). The devil is a sinner from the beginning "(1 Jn 3:8)," father of lies "(Jn 8:44).
393 It is the irrevocable character of their choice, not a defect in the infinite mercy of God, which makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for them after the fall, as there is no repentance for men after death" (St. Damascene, FP 2.4: PG 94.877 C).
394 The Scriptures confirms the negative influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the beginning" (Jn 8:44), and has even tried to divert Jesus from the mission received from the Father (cf. Mt 4:1-11) . "It might destroy the works of the devil that the Son of God appeared" (1 Jn 3:8). The most serious consequences of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God.
395 The power of Satan is not infinite. He is a creature, powerful because it is pure spirit, but still a creature he can not stop building the kingdom of God. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred against God and his Kingdom by Jesus Christ, and although his action may cause serious damage - a spiritual and physical nature even indirectly - for every man and society, this action is permitted by Divine Providence with strength and gentleness guides human history and the world. Divine permission of evil activity is a great mystery, but "we know that God does all contribute to the welfare of those who love Him" (Rom 8:28).
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