UPDATE: Satanic Temple denies it intends to desecrate the Eucharist during planned ‘black mass’

CNA Staff, Oct 25, 2024 / 17:20 pm

The so-called Satanic Temple on Thursday denied that it intends to use a consecrated host during a sacrilegious “black mass” event scheduled for this evening.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta has since confirmed that “a representative for The Satanic Temple of Atlanta has now provided us with their assurances that they do not have, and will not be using at their event tonight, a consecrated host.”

A direct mockery of the Catholic Mass, a so-called “black mass” has sometimes in the past involved the desecration of the Eucharist, stolen from a Catholic church.

Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer of Atlanta in a Friday statement said that archdiocesan legal representatives reached out to the venue and organizers of the event to “demand that, if they had any consecrated hosts in their possession, they return them and not use them in their black mass.” 

“We were prepared to seek a court order if such a host was determined to be in the hands of the satanic group. The Satanic Temple of Atlanta, through their attorney, responded saying they had no such consecrated host and no such consecrated host would be used in their black mass,” Hartmayer reported.

“While their letter continued to mock the Eucharist and our beliefs, it also demonstrated an understanding of how seriously we have taken this threat to our core belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They called their event entertainment and defended their right to express their beliefs by mocking ours.”

The Satanic Temple is a provocative Salem, Massachusetts-based political organization that openly and unequivocally denies belief in God, Satan, or the supernatural. The group is known for protesting religious symbolism in public spaces.

“The Satanic Temple Atlanta has not engaged in theft or illicit activity of any kind. Specifically, we have not stolen a consecrated host, nor do we promote illegal behavior,” the group said in an Oct. 24 Instagram post. 

The group said its statement was made in direct response to Hartmayer, who in an Oct. 8 memo urged all Catholics to counter the Satanic Temple’s “attack on the faith” through prayers of reparation and penance.

“The Satanic Temple does not believe in, nor advocate for a belief in, the supernatural, nor is it the place of another religious organization to define for us how our rituals must be conducted to conform with their assumptions,” the Atlanta Satanic Temple continued in its Instagram post.

The group asserted that the so-called “black mass,” set to take place Friday evening at an event space in Atlanta, is “intended as a theatrical performance for entertainment, religious practice, and empowerment within our community” and is intended as a “personal declaration of independence from superstition.”

Hartmayer, in his earlier memo, said that Catholics should respond to “this attack to our faith through prayer, penance, and prayers of reparation.”

In his updated statement Oct. 25, the archbishop said the chancery office has been “overwhelmed with calls, emails, and messages of all kinds offering support” since news broke about the black mass. He urged Catholics to respond to the planned event with “love stronger than hate or violence.”

“[R]emember that ‘they will know we are Christians by our love.’ I continue to ask for prayer. I wholeheartedly condemn any threats, violence, or dangerous behavior against anyone involved with this event or the location where it is set to be held. We must respond as Jesus would,” Hartmayer said. 

“While there will always be people who mock and blaspheme Our Lord in the public square, we know too that he will be defended by all of us who love him.”

In recent years, the Satanic Temple has engaged in pro-abortion advocacy, losing the various lawsuits it filed against state pro-life laws in Missouri and Indiana. It also announced last year the creation of an “After School Satan Club” at a Connecticut elementary school.

In 2014, a planned “black mass” at Harvard University sparked considerable outcry from Catholics, as did another one later that year in Oklahoma City.

This article has been updated.