devil’s advocate

devil’s advocate, a former office in the Roman Catholic Church, the Promoter of the Faith (Latin: promotor fidei), who critically examined the life of and miracles attributed to an individual proposed for beatification or canonization. He was called the devil’s advocate because his presentation of facts included everything unfavourable to the candidate in order to uncover any character flaws or misrepresentations of their life of heroic sanctity. The term is popularly used to describe anyone who champions a less accepted cause solely for the sake of argument.

Pope Leo X, in the early 15th century, seems to have introduced the term, but Sixtus V formally established the office in 1587. The role of the office was significantly reduced when Pope John Paul II revised the canonization procedures with Divinus Perfectionis Magister in 1983, and the promotor fidei subsequently held little sway over the proceedings.