Editorial

Standing With Oklahoma City

Posted

The Eucharistic sacrifice made at every Catholic Mass in which Jesus becomes truly present as the priest consecrates the gifts of bread and wine for reception by the faithful is the source and summit of our faith. That holds true whether the liturgy is celebrated in New York City, or Rome, Italy, or anywhere else across the globe.

Correspondingly an attack on the holy sacrifice of the Mass, no matter where, is a matter that should be of concern to all Catholics, and people of all religions. A sacrilege of exactly this nature is expected to occur next month in Oklahoma City, Okla., when a Satanic group is scheduled to hold a “black mass” at the Civic Center Music Hall there Sept. 21.

Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakley has countered with a call to priests and parishioners in his archdiocese to offer prayer and penance to prevent the blasphemous event from happening.

Despite marketing portraying the event as “some sort of dark entertainment,” the Satanic ritual “is deadly serious,” the archbishop wrote in his Aug. 4 letter.

“It is a blasphemous and obscene inversion of the Catholic Mass,” he continued. “Using a consecrated Host obtained illicitly from a Catholic church and desecrating it in the vilest ways imaginable, the practitioners offer it in sacrifice to Satan. This terrible sacrilege is a deliberate attack on the Catholic Mass as well as the foundational beliefs of all Christians.”

In spite of repeated requests, the archbishop said there is no indication the elected officials of Oklahoma City intend to prevent this event from taking place. “I am certainly concerned about the misuse of a publicly supported facility for an event which has no other purpose than mocking the Catholic faith. I am especially concerned about the dark powers that this Satanic worship invites into our community and the spiritual danger that this poses to all who are involved in it, directly or indirectly.”

Along with urging Catholics to express their outrage to Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, Archbishop Coakley offered a spiritual response to counter the planned perversion of the Catholic Mass. He is calling on the more than 250,000 Catholics of his archdiocese to pray daily at Mass the Prayer of St. Michael the Archangel for “divine protection through the intercession of this heavenly patron who once defeated Lucifer in his rebellion against the Almighty...” Those prayers will take place at the conclusion of each Mass through the feast of the Archangels Sept. 29.

He also asked that each parish of his archdiocese conduct a Eucharistic Holy Hour with Benediction between Aug. 15 and Sept. 21 to avert the “black mass.” Further, on the day the Satanic ritual is to take place, he will lead “Catholics, Christians and people of good will” in a Holy Hour at a nearby parish church followed by an outdoor Eucharistic procession and Benediction.

A recent Catholic News Service story reminds us that the Satanic ritual planned for Oklahoma City is not the first one promoted in the United States in recent months. In May, a large public outcry against a student group’s plan to conduct a “black mass” on campus at Harvard University led to its formal cancellation and an apparently impromptu off-campus version that was countered by a well-attended Catholic Holy Hour.

It now falls to Catholics and other people of faith and good will to stand together with our brothers and sisters in Oklahoma City. Though separated by distance, we can express our solidarity by offering prayerful support as they fight the forces of darkness that would foist this desecration of our Catholic Mass into their midst.