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Topics: Liturgy law: from the 1984 indult to Traditionis custodes

InfoVaticana on the Knoxville St Michael prayer request: its Church texts are real, one is cited without its condition

An InfoVaticana opinion piece against the Bishop of Knoxville’s request cites Sacrosanctum Concilium 13, canon 214 and Paul VI’s 1972 “smoke of Satan”. All three are real; the Council text also asks that devotions harmonize with the liturgy, the point the bishop relies on.

By TradWatch™ staff

2 min read

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Verdicts at a glance

  1. Mostly accurate

    Sacrosanctum Concilium 13 strongly commends popular devotions, and canon 214 protects the faithful’s right to their own spiritual life. · InfoVaticana

  2. Accurate

    In 1972 Paul VI spoke of the smoke of Satan entering the temple of God through some crack. · InfoVaticana

In this brief · 7 sections
  1. 01What was said
  2. 02Context
  3. 03The record
  4. 04Bottom line
  5. 05The original
  6. 06Sources
  7. 07Corrections

On 18 October 2026 InfoVaticana published an opinion piece by Miguel Escrivá against the Bishop of Knoxville’s request that parishes move away from group prayers recited together before and after Mass, including the prayer to St Michael. On the bishop’s column, see our earlier fact-check. TradWatch™ checks the Church texts the piece cites.

What was said

The 2 statements under review, quoted verbatim, with a link to the moment each was made.

Statement 1: InfoVaticana

InfoVaticana · October 18, 2026

Sacrosanctum Concilium , el documento que monseñor Beckman cita con devoción, recomienda vivamente en su número 13 los ejercicios piadosos del pueblo cristiano, y el canon 214 protege el derecho de los fieles a su propia vida espiritual.

— InfoVaticana, InfoVaticana

In brief: Sacrosanctum Concilium 13 strongly commends popular devotions, and canon 214 protects the faithful’s right to their own spiritual life.

Our verdict: Mostly accurateBroadly supported, but a detail is off or overstated.

See the record
Prohibir la oración a San Miguel Arcángel: una orden que firmaría el demonioinfovaticana.com

This content is embedded for purposes of commentary, criticism, and news reporting. TradWatch is not affiliated with InfoVaticana. Views quoted are those of the speaker.

Statement 2: InfoVaticana

InfoVaticana · October 18, 2026

Pablo VI habló en 1972 del humo de Satanás que se había infiltrado por alguna grieta en el templo de Dios.

— InfoVaticana, InfoVaticana

In brief: In 1972 Paul VI spoke of the smoke of Satan entering the temple of God through some crack.

Our verdict: AccurateThe record supports the claim as stated.

See the record
Prohibir la oración a San Miguel Arcángel: una orden que firmaría el demonioinfovaticana.com

This content is embedded for purposes of commentary, criticism, and news reporting. TradWatch is not affiliated with InfoVaticana. Views quoted are those of the speaker.

Context

The piece’s claim that only the devil benefits from the request is opinion and is not rated here.

The record

What the sources show, statement by statement.

Verifiable factcan be checked against the sources cited.TradWatch analysisis our interpretation, clearly labelled.
1

Statement 1 · InfoVaticana

Sacrosanctum Concilium 13 strongly commends popular devotions, and canon 214 protects the faithful’s right to their own spiritual life.

  1. Verifiable fact

    Both texts say this, with conditions

    Sacrosanctum Concilium 13 says popular devotions “are to be highly commended, provided they accord with the laws and norms of the Church”, and adds that they “should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy” (vatican.va). Canon 214 gives the faithful the right “to follow their own form of spiritual life so long as it is consonant with the doctrine of the Church” (vatican.va).

    Sources

  2. TradWatch analysis

    The part the bishop relies on is left out

    The citations are correct, but the same paragraph of Sacrosanctum Concilium asks that devotions be kept in harmony with the liturgy, which is the ground the Bishop of Knoxville gives for asking parishes not to add group prayers to the Mass. Neither text settles whether a bishop may ask for that.

    Source

2

Statement 2 · InfoVaticana

In 1972 Paul VI spoke of the smoke of Satan entering the temple of God through some crack.

  1. Verifiable fact

    Homily of 29 June 1972

    The Holy See’s summary of Paul VI’s homily of 29 June 1972 reports his sense that “da qualche fessura sia entrato il fumo di Satana nel tempio di Dio” (through some crack the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God) (vatican.va).

    Source

    • 4

      Official Church source

      Paul VI, homily for the ninth anniversary of his coronation (summary)

      Holy See (vatican.va) · June 29, 1972

      Read source

Bottom line

The texts are real: Sacrosanctum Concilium 13 commends popular devotions, canon 214 protects one’s own spiritual life, and Paul VI spoke of the “smoke of Satan” in 1972. But the Council text also asks that devotions harmonize with the liturgy, the point the bishop relies on.

The original

The full episode we checked, as InfoVaticana published it.
Prohibir la oración a San Miguel Arcángel: una orden que firmaría el demonioInfoVaticana · Opens the original

Sources

4 sources: 1 primary source, 3 Church sources. Every source is linked; where pages may change we link an archived copy.
  1. 1.
    Primary sourceCited in statement 1

    Prohibir la oración a San Miguel Arcángel: una orden que firmaría el demonio

    InfoVaticana · October 18, 2026

    infovaticana.com/2026/10/18/prohibir-la-oracion-a-san-miguel-arcangel-una-orden…

  2. 2.
    Official Church sourceCited in statement 1

    Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 13

    Holy See (vatican.va) · December 4, 1963

    vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_1963…

  3. 3.
    Official Church sourceCited in statement 1

    Code of Canon Law, can. 214

    Holy See (vatican.va) · January 25, 1983

    vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann208-329_en.html

  4. 4.
    Official Church sourceCited in statement 2

    Paul VI, homily for the ninth anniversary of his coronation (summary)

    Holy See (vatican.va) · June 29, 1972

    vatican.va/content/paul-vi/it/homilies/1972/documents/hf_p-vi_hom_19720629.html

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