8.175. Pope Paul VI said, “The smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.” What did he mean—and how could this happen under a pope?
On June 29, 1972, “Pope” Paul VI shocked the world when he stated in a public homily:
“From some fissure the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.”
He lamented the growing confusion, doubt, and rebellion in the Church, stating that “we believed that after the Council would come a day of sunshine… but instead, it has been a storm.” Paul VI recognized that something had gone terribly wrong in the Church—but he failed to recognize that he himself had thrown open the doors to Satan through Vatican II and its aftermath.
In just seven years since the Council’s close, the Church had witnessed:
Mass defections of priests and religious
Liturgical revolution (the Novus Ordo Missae)
Doctrinal ambiguity and heretical teachings
Collapse in vocations, reverence, and catechesis
Rise of moral relativism and ecumenism with false religions
The “smoke” Paul VI referenced was not a mystery. It was the fruits of his own modernist policies—the destruction of the Traditional Latin Mass, the suppression of tradition, and the promotion of a humanist, ecumenical “Church of man.”
Rather than correcting course, Paul VI doubled down, enforcing the Novus Ordo, silencing traditional clergy (like Archbishop Lefebvre), and refusing to condemn the errors he himself recognized.
| Category | Traditional Catholic Teaching | Post-Vatican II Reality (as admitted by Paul VI) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source of Confusion | Error comes from rejecting tradition and embracing novelty | Paul VI admits “a climate of doubt, uncertainty, unrest…” | He describes the smoke of Satan—but fails to close the door |
| Role of the Council | Past councils reaffirmed and defended doctrine | Paul VI hoped Vatican II would bring “a new springtime” | Instead, it brought doctrinal chaos and liturgical destruction |
| Liturgical Reform | The Mass is sacred, unchanging, sacrificial worship | Paul VI imposed the Novus Ordo and suppressed the TLM | The “smoke” entered through the destruction of the altar |
| Response to Crisis | True popes restore tradition and root out heresy | Paul VI lamented the evil—but protected its cause | Self-contradiction: recognizing Satan’s presence, yet enabling it |
| Fruits | Holiness, unity, doctrinal clarity, missionary zeal | Confusion, rebellion, loss of faith, scandals | “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:16) |
Summary:
When Paul VI said “the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God,” he was not warning of an external attack—he was confessing the internal ruin wrought by his own council. The changes he oversaw—new liturgy, ecumenism, religious liberty, interfaith relativism—were the fissures through which the smoke entered.
The true Catholic Church cannot be the source of error, confusion, or destruction. The Vatican II sect is not the Catholic Church, and Paul VI—by enabling error while wearing papal garments—proved himself a false shepherd.
Let us stay faithful to the unchanging Catholic Faith, passed down by true popes like Pius X, Pius XI, and Pius XII, and reject the poisoned smoke of the counterfeit church.
“Satan... will seat himself on the throne of Peter.”