“We are finalizing a list of places throughout our whole Archdiocese where we will gather in adoration and prayer. All of our shrines have agreed to be a part of this, and most of our monasteries.”
From OSV News:
Prayer, sacramental grace and the cultivation of virtue are Catholics’ most effective responses to an upcoming satanist convention in Boston — and the event itself is an opportune moment for Catholics to give witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ, pastoral experts told OSV News.
The Satanic Temple, based in Salem, Massachusetts, will host SatanCon 2023 April 28-30 at the Marriott Copley Place in downtown Boston. With a theme of “Hexennacht (Witches’ Night) in Boston,” the TST-organized conference includes lectures, panel discussions and entertainment.
Among the scheduled presentations at the event, which organizers claim has been sold out, are “Hellbillies: Visible Satanism in Rural America,” “Deconstructing Your Religious Upbringing,” “Sins of the Flesh: Satanism and Self-Pleasure,” “Reclaiming the Trans Body: A/theistic Strategies for Self-Determination and Empowerment” and “Re-imagining Lilith as an Archetype for Reproductive Justice.”
TST’s website lists the event as dedicated — in a negative way — to Boston mMayor Michelle Wu “for her unconstitutional efforts to keep TST out of Boston’s public spaces.”
The agenda also includes a “Sober Mass” on Sunday, April 30. In an emailed response to OSV News, TST described the event as “a somber and empowering ceremony that honors all those who endured mistreatment, have been harmed, or lost due to pseudoscience and superstition in the fields of addiction and recovery.”
TST added that “there are no Catholic elements in the ceremony or SatanCon,” as TST “has its own affirmative values and is not anti-Christian.”
Nonetheless, the conference has drawn concern and outrage from a number of Catholics.
Terrence Donilon, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Boston, told OSV News that Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley has counseled “a response balanced and focused on prayer.”
“We are finalizing a list of places throughout our whole Archdiocese where we will gather in adoration and prayer,” Donilon said in an emailed statement. “All of our shrines have agreed to be a part of this, and most of our monasteries. Our men and women religious will be invited to more intense prayer during that weekend.”
