devil's advocate

The advocatus diaboli interrupted with periodic snorts and sarcastic queries, and when he was finished, the advocate raked at his story with semantic tooth and nail until Francis himself wondered if he had really seen the old man or had imagined the incident.

These are intriguing mentions, like Lowry being called, by Emilio Sanz De Soto, a "fasciste dement" (26), but they make taking him on more like the task of the advocatus diaboli.

And there had to be a hearing, at which the advocatus Diaboli, or Devil's Advocate, would be appointed by the Church to make the strongest possible case against the nominee.

There is no longer any advocatus diaboli to itemize the failings, real or alleged, of any proposed saint, and so we may assume that the volume by Mr.

By playing the oppressed liberator and the advocatus diaboli, Sabbath is basically doing what Nikki did: he is trying to "disappear," trying to establish an outsider's mocking position that allows him to shut himself off from other people in order not to be hurt by their violence, not to be infected by their pain.