In common parlance, devil's advocate has come to mean a person who takes a position for the sake of argument (not necessarily believing in the argument); or who presents a counterargument for a position they do believe in, to another debater. This process can be used to test the quality of the original argument and identify weaknesses in its structure.

Origin

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Formerly, during the canonization process by the Roman Catholic Church, the Promoter of the Faith (Latin Promotor Fidei), or Devil's Advocate (Latin advocatus diaboli), was a canon lawyer appointed by the Church to argue against the canonization of the proposed candidate. It was his job to take a skeptical view of the proceedings, to look for holes in the evidence and to argue that the miracles attributed to the candidate were fraudulent, etc.

The office was established in 1587 and was abolished by Pope John Paul II in 1983. The abolition streamlined the canonization process considerably, helping to usher in John Paul's unprecedented number of elevations: nearly 500 individuals canonized and over 1,300 beatified, as opposed to 98 canonizations by all his 20th-century predecessors. The increase suggests that the Devil's Advocate indeed reduced the number of canonizations; some hold the opinion it served a useful role in ensuring that canonizations did not proceed without due care and caution and that the status of sainthood was not lightly recognized.

External links

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• Article from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia

Sainthood Legal occupations | Canon law (Catholic Church) | English idioms

Ďáblův advokát | Abogado del diablo | Avocat du diable | Advocatus diaboli | פרקליטו של השטן | Velnio advokatas | Advocaat van de Duivel | Djevelens advokat | Adwokat diabła (chrześcijaństwo) | Advogado do Diabo | Адвокат дьявола | Paholaisen asianajaja | Djävulens advokat