Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Archbishop calls slated black mass offensive, horrendous

Archbishop calls slated black mass offensive, horrendous

Last updated on: July 16, 2014 at 11:15 pm by CNA Daily News

Archbishop calls slated black mass offensive, horrendous 2014-07-16T23:15:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Oklahoma City, Okla., Jul 16, 2014 / 05:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop of Oklahoma City Paul Coakley called a black mass scheduled to take place in the city's civic center an “obviously horrendous” act meant to offend much of the state's community.

“There are common standards of decency that civic-minded people uphold that are necessary for constructive public discourse, and this violates all of those standards,” he told CNA July 16. “This is a mockery of one faith, a hostile act toward a significant faith community, the Catholic community.”

It would be “truly offensive to a significant segment of their population, that is the Catholic, and the Christian community at large,” the archbishop added.

“Oklahoma is a very church-minded community; there are not many Catholics here, but a great majority are Christian, and this is really an affront to all Christian believers, and I think the more people are recognizing that, the more they're willing to speak up.”

The occult group Dakhma of Angra Mainyu has scheduled to hold a black mass at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall Sept. 21. A black mass is a sacrilegious ceremony that invokes Satan and mocks the Mass, involving the desecration of the Eucharist, generally by stealing a consecrated Host from a Catholic church and using it in a profane, sexual ritual.

“I give the benefit of the doubt to those who allowed this civic center to be booked by a satanic group for the purpose of a black mass, because my suspicion is that whoever booked it had no idea what a black mass is, how offensive such a thing is,” Archbishop Coakley reflected. “Initially there was ignorance, I think, about what they were getting into.”

When CNA spoke on July 3 with Jennifer Lindsey-McClintock – the music hall's public information manager – about the nature of the event, she cited the hall's neutrality policy saying it's “not for us to judge…whether it is appropriate or not.”

Archbishop Coakley said that “my hope is that through prayer, and through continued communication with the civic officials here, they will come to recognize this is not a prudent course, not a good course, for the city.”

He added that he supposes “that if someone desired to rent the civic center to have a public burning of a Quran, or a blatantly anti-semitic sort of program, that the city would rightly find some way to prevent that from happening. And they should. That would be very clear.”

“My question, is why can't they recognize that this is equally offensive to the Catholic community, and act accordingly to prevent such a black eye on the community, such an affront to the Catholic and to the Christian community?”

Lindsey-McClintock, however, claimed that as a city-funded facility, they must “operate in a position of neutrality.” She said that this policy would mean the center would host racist or anti-Jewish events “as long as it was not hosting something specifically illegal in nature, or that during the production they were taking part in illegal activities…we do not discriminate against any group based on the content of their message.”

Archbishop Coakley remarked that to note how the civic center is, in the name of tolerance and non-discrimination, intending to host an event that is by its nature disrespectful and intolerant of Christians and Catholics, would be “hitting the nail on the head.”

“I think the more people here in Oklahoma, as well as around the country, have heard about this, and reflected upon what exactly it entails, the more outraged, and upset, people have become,” he added.

Black masses, he said, are a “grievous sacrilege and blasphemy of the first order…taking what is most sacred to us as as Catholics, and mocking it, desecrating it, in vile, often violent and sexually explicit ways.”

“It's obviously horrendous…what they intend to do with that consecrated Host is offensive beyond description.”

Archbishop Coakley called it a “terribly disturbing development in our community, and I think one of the things people need to realize, is this is inviting very dark and evil forces into our community. I think I have an obligation, we have an obligation, to do what we can do to prevent that from happening – unleashing spiritual influences which are harmful and destructive.”

Noting the recently planned black mass at Harvard, another satanic group's attempt to place a satanic monument at the Oklahoma capitol, and this planned black mass, the archbishop said that “perhaps if anything, it's a manifestation that these kinds of groups are becoming emboldened because of a certain kind of increasing tolerance for an increasingly outrageous mode of conduct in our culture.”

“I hope to be meeting in the near future with civic officials,” he added, saying “we'll continue to explore ways of dialoguing with civic officials.”

“Obviously for us as people of faith, as Catholics, we're praying for a change of heart, that something will shift, and that there will be a change of direction, and a recognition that this cannot be allowed.”

He noted that there have been a number of petitions against the event on Facebook and other sites, not organized by the archdiocese, but “very much a grassroots thing.”

“My role in this,” Archbishop Coakley said, “is simply to provide a voice, and leadership, drawing attention to it, and encouraging people to pray, and to voice their concern to civic officials.”

Should the black mass not be canceled, the archbishop said the Catholic community will “find a way to lift up the Eucharist in a way that shows our love for Christ in the Eucharist, our respect and honor for the gift of the Blessed Sacrament.”

Whether through Masses of reparation, holy hours, or processions, “we will do what we can do to bear witness to our faith in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist.”

Previous Post

July 16, 2014

Women speak out against 'extreme' abortion bill

Next Post

July 17, 2014 Jesuits working to free abducted priest in Afghanistan

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE