BY RACHEL DELGUIDICE
Staff Writer
Hundreds of faithful Catholics rallied in solidarity protesting the black mass that was held Sunday night at the Oklahoma City Civic Center.
In regard to the black mass, event organizer Adam Daniels said, “We give a blessing and offering to Satan. … We’re censoring it, doing all the things that are normally done to bless a sacrifice, which is obviously the host, the body of Christ, then you’re taking that and we re-consecrate it the way the devil does.”
“We just want to make our voices heard, go down there and adore our Lord in reparation for the offenses that will be committed against him tonight,” said Michelle Nichols, one event’s protesters.
More than 115,000 people signed a petition on CitizenGo.org to prevent the Oklahoma City Civic Center from hosting the black mass.
CitizenGo reports that “A black mass is a sacrilegious ceremony that is part of demonic worship. It is designed as a mockery of the Catholic Mass, in which Satan is invoked and the Eucharist is desecrated, generally through profane sex acts.”
Thankfully, CitizenGo reports that the consecrated host stolen for the ceremony was returned by event organizer Adam Daniels.
The National Catholic Register reports that Busch & Caspino, a California law firm filed a lawsuit “against the group on behalf of the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, on the grounds that the host was stolen property and belongs to the Church.” Because of the lawsuit, an attorney representing Daniels returned the host to a priest serving the Oklahoma City Archdiocese on Aug. 21.
Many faithful Catholics, young and old, stood vigil outside the Civic Center, some holding signs, others holding crucifixes, while others kneeled in prayer on the bear ground. Not surprisingly, this sparked a very lively conversation on Twitter as to the appropriateness of the event.
One tweet read, “Black Mass attendance: 40 to 50 according to @HeatherHopeTV, who’s inside. Holy Hour service held at the same time draws 400 #okc @NEWS9.”
“It’s very offensive, yes, if they realized what Christ did for us, dying on the cross,” said Joe Helten Jr., another protester in Oklahoma City.