Ever since humanity turned away from God at the dawn of history, lies have run rampant throughout the world. Those who lie the most are those with political, economic, or strategic power to craft narratives that suit their purposes. Once again, we are witnessing how, in wars, lies reach their peak with rampant propaganda, manipulation, and fake news. And at the root of corruption lie lies.

Great philosophers have thoroughly studied humanity’s capacity to lie, appealing to the need for peaceful coexistence: Socrates with his high-mindedness, Plato warning of the tendency to see shadows instead of reality because it is more convenient. Kant appeals to the rectitude of conscience and the maintenance of universal norms of behavior, because they benefit society, while lies destroy coexistence.

Lies, hatred, and pride are the weapons of the diabolical world, which also has an interest in preventing men from taking it seriously, as if it were an unreal myth.

In the world of shadows

In lies, in their many forms, responsibility lies with both the liar and the devil, the father of lies. The word “devil” comes from Greek and means accuser or slanderer, and according to some, its etymology refers to one imprisoned in the dungeon or sewer of hell. “Satan” is of Hebrew origin and designates the enemy who snares or persecutes humankind. “Demon,” also of Greek origin, signifies a being superior to humans but inferior to God. The world of shadows, appearances, and lies is the atmosphere that permeates the diabolical world of Satan and his henchmen, who were once angels corrupted by pride.

In a confrontation with some Jews who were attacking him, Jesus Christ tells them that lying is the work of the devil: “Your father is the devil… because there is no truth in him; when he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). He attributes to the devil the temptation to lie and also to the one who perpetrates the lie, whether one or many, because often the lie snowballs, entangling the discourse, so that in the end the liar has definitively forgotten the truth. The habituation to lies lowers the moral standard, causing society to enter a spiral of corruption.

“The devil tried to tempt Jesus Christ himself, as the Gospel of Matthew relates: “Again, the devil took him to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’ Jesus answered, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”’ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him” (Matthew 4:8-11).

And Jesus himself shows that the devil is not an idea of ​​evil but a personal being, perverted and perverting the truth, made hatred of himself. He pointed this out with the parable of the weeds explained to the apostles: “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed stands for the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one; the enemy who sows them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as the weeds are pulled up and thrown into the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:36-43).

The Story of Temptations 

The temptations of Jesus in the desert have profound significance for our journey toward God, for the most important figures in Sacred History were also tempted: Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, the chosen people themselves, and so on. And Jesus Christ himself, by rejecting the diabolical temptations, atones for the falls of humanity before and after him; he foreshadows the subsequent temptations of each of us, and the struggles of the Church against the temptations of diabolical power. This is why Jesus taught us, in the Lord’s Prayer, to ask God to help us with his grace so that we may not fall in the hour of temptation.

The devil continues and will continue to be a presence in human history until the very end. Since Jesus Christ’s resurrection, the devil has directed his attacks against the Church, just as Jesus himself foretold: “Simon, behold, Satan has come after you to sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:31). This is a relentless war in which he attacks the Church from within and without.

Satan already tempted Adam and Eve with the lie that God didn’t want them to grow up in freedom so they wouldn’t overshadow Him or become as powerful as the Creator. The devil also tempted David with lust, which led him to adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, through a series of schemes and lies. The devil tempted Peter with fear and cowardice, leading him to lie and save his life by denying his relationship with the Master.

Although some have lost faith in the existence and activity of demons, we must keep this reality firmly in mind: that there exists a hierarchically structured realm of evil, whose leader is Satan, prince of demons, endowed with power far exceeding natural human strength. A wretched individual and a realm of darkness actively waging war against the Kingdom of God on earth. A being who is the source of evil, the irreconcilable enemy of humankind, in whom he—powerlessly—hates the image of God.

Symptoms of these diabolical insidious acts? Pope Paul VI pointed out some signs of the diabolical presence: “We can suppose his sinister action where the denial of God becomes radical, subtle and absurd, where the lie is affirmed hypocritically and powerfully, against the evident truth; where love is eliminated by a cold and cruel selfishness; where the name of Christ is challenged with conscious and rebellious hatred (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:22; 12:3), where the spirit of the Gospel is mystified and denied, where despair is affirmed as the last word” (Address, 15-XI-1972).

Furthermore, we know that recent popes—Francis, Benedict, and John Paul II—have also spoken of the devil at some point, whether regarding the existence of the evil one or the tempter, as this is a fundamental truth of faith in the Magisterium and Catholic theology. They insist that it is neither a myth nor an outdated idea and urge us to take the devil seriously: it is common experience in the Church that despair, hatred of life, terrorism, and laws against the family are all driven by the father of lies.

The world of lies

What defines a lie is the discrepancy between the words or actions and the speaker’s thoughts, regardless of whether others are actually deceived. Some lies are told or done for personal gain, and others to harm others or their interests.

A society worthy of humanity must be built upon the truth about humanity itself, the family, and human relationships. In this sense, Christian doctrine offers a realistic anthropology that recognizes that all people are creatures of God, with an equal capacity to know the truth and adhere to goodness, to respond freely to the sanctifying mission of this world, and to establish stable relationships of fidelity.

This hopeful conception of the human being is a creative light for any culture, especially in times of doubt about the human being and skepticism about the objective truth capable of building a society on the solid foundation of truth.

Words denote or point to something visible and also connote something invisible, e.g., justice, love, equality, freedom, dignity, etc. And if we destroy concepts, we abandon logic, and everything becomes unstable and relative. Doesn’t that sound familiar? If we call any affective union “marriage,” or suicide “a dignified death,” the conscious display of extravagance “pride,” or harassment “public shaming,” then there is no way to understand each other, and the boundary between what is beneficial or harmful to the individual, what contributes to the common good or only to a few, what is just and in accordance with the norms of peaceful coexistence or what is unjust, disappears.

It is in everyone’s best interest to walk in the truth, however difficult it may sometimes be, and in this way we will keep our conscience clear, contributing to peaceful coexistence.

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