July 3, 2014
(CNSNews.com)
– Catholic Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the archdiocese of Oklahoma City,
condemned a scheduled Black Mass by a satanic group, for which tickets are
being sold at the Oklahoma City Civic Center, as “sacrilegious,” a “blasphemous
mockery of the Mass.”
The
archbishop also called upon community leaders and board members of the Oklahoma
City Civic Center to “remedy this situation,” stressing that he hoped they did
not want to “enable or encourage such a flagrantly inflammatory event.”
The Black
Mass of Oklahoma, being offered by the group Dakhma of Angra Mainyu, is
scheduled to take place in the Civic Center Music Hall on Sept. 21 at 7PM.
Tickets are $15.00.
In the
description for the event, the ticket office says, “The Black Mass has been a
feared ritual, and now it’s being brought into the light! This will not only be
enlightening but educational as well. This Black Mass will be conducted for the
public to attend with certain adaptations to allow for a legal celebration.”
On the
eventful ticket website, it describes the event as follows, “A Religious Black
Mass will be conducted as a public event to help educate the public about
Religious Satanism. The ritual has been toned down to meet the laws of Oklahoma
and the rules of the government building. Enjoy the delights of the Devil.”
“For more
than 1 billion Catholics worldwide and more than 200,000 Catholics in Oklahoma,
the Mass is the most sacred of religious rituals,” Archbishop Coakley said in
in a July 1 statement condemning the Black Mass. “It is the center of Catholic worship and
celebrates Jesus Christ’s redemption of the world by his death and
resurrection. In particular, the Eucharist – which we believe to be the body,
blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ – is the source and summit of our faith.”
“That’s why
we’re astonished and grieved that the Civic Center would promote as
entertainment and sell tickets for an event that is very transparently a
blasphemous mockery of the Mass,” he said. “The ‘Black Mass’ that is scheduled
for the Civic Center in September is a satanic inversion and distortion of the
most sacred beliefs not only of Catholics, but of all Christians.”
The
archbishop asked those allowing the event, “to reconsider whether this is an
appropriate use of public space,” adding, “we trust that community leaders –
and, in particular, the board members of the Oklahoma City Civic Center – do
not actually wish to enable or encourage such a flagrantly inflammatory event
and can surely remedy this situation.”
Archbishop
Coakley also said that if the event moves forward, “we will have to consider
other peaceful, prayerful and respectful options to demonstrate our opposition
to this publicly supported sacrilegious act.”
“In the
meantime, I call on all Catholics in central and western Oklahoma – as well as
all men and women of good will – to pray for a renewed sense of the sacred and,
in particular, to pray that the Lord might change the hearts and minds of the
organizers of this event,” he concluded.
The permit
to hold the Black Mass reportedly was signed by Adam Daniels, an apparent
member of Dakhma of Angra Mainyu.
CNSNews.com
sent questions by e-mail to the Angra Mainyu, but the group did not respond
before this story was posted.
On the
Dakhma of Angra Mainyu website it discusses the Black Mass and says, “The
modern form of the Black Mass is still practiced by modern Devil Worshipers to
celebrate the perversion of the Catholic Mass still seen in society today. The Black Mass as gone through a
transformation to maintain practice within societal law.”
“The
consecrated host is corrupted by sexual fluids, then it becomes the sacrifice
of the mass,” reads the website. “The
blasphemy remains intact along with corruption of Catholic Mass.
Modern/Laveyan Satanists see this as ritual
to mock the Catholic Mass in the form of a blasphemy rite used to deprogram
people from their Christian background.”
“Religious
Satanism sees the Black Mass as a religious ceremony to empower themselves and
receive a ‘blessing’ from the Devil,” the group explains.
“The Black
Mass being performed at the Okc Civic Center has been toned downed as to allow
it to be performed in a public
government building,” says Angra Mainyu.
“The authenticity and purpose of the Black Mass will remain intact while
allowing for slight changes so that a public viewing can occur without breaking
Oklahoma's laws based on nudity, public urination, and other sex acts.”
Dakhma of
Angra Mainyu describes itself as “a religious and educational church dedicated
to Angra Mainyu (Ahriman). Angra Mainyu is seen as a destroyer.”
They also
say they teach “freedom from any religion that chooses to bind you to some type
of dogma the forces you to restrain your natural animal instincts.”
Kelly
Hadsall, management specialist with the Oklahoma Civic Center, told CNSNews.com
that “since the center is a city-owned facility, the First Amendment of the
United States Constitution does not allow us to turn away productions based on
their content.”
“The city of
Oklahoma City and the Civic Center are required by law to rent space to
individuals and organizations so long as they comply with our policies and
ordinances and have paid the established rental fees,” she explained.
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