Christians must every day resist the devil and flee from temptation, Pope Francis said on Thursday.

During early morning mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Pope said Christians who say they are never tempted are "not Christian; they are ideological".

According to the Catholic News Service, as Christians come close to God, the devil "wages a war within you... This is why Paul talks about Christian life as a battle, a daily battle."

But Jesus came "to destroy Satan, to destroy his influence on our hearts", he added.

The Pope has been vocal in talking about the devil ever since his election to the papacy.

In his first major address as Pope, he said: "Let us never yield to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day."

In a homily in 2014, he reminded his audience of the reality of the devil in modern day life. "The devil also exists in the 21st century, and we need to learn from the Gospel how to battle against him" he said.

He urged Christians not to be "naive" about Satan's tactics.

"The spirit of evil does not want us to become holy, it does not us to bear witness to Christ, it does not want us to be disciples of Christ," he said.