Kansas governor says ‘black mass’ must take place outside state capitol building

CNA Staff, Mar 12, 2025 / 18:55 pm (CNA).

Amid outcry from Catholics over a “black mass” slated to take place at the Kansas state capitol building on March 28, Governor Laura Kelly on Wednesday said she has “limited authority” to cancel the event, instead decreeing that the event must take place outside, and not inside the building itself. 

The Satanic Grotto, the Kansas group purportedly organizing the March 28 “black mass,” says the event is intended to “dedicate the grounds and our legislature to the glory of Satan.” The group will be “performing rites” and “indulging in sacrilegious blaspheme [sic].”

“Satanist” groups intending to stage so-called “black masses” — a direct mockery of the Catholic Mass — have on at least one occasion boasted of possessing a stolen consecrated host with an intent to desecrate the Eucharist in an unspecified but profane ritual.

A petition launched by a Catholic group asking Kelly to shut down the event claims to have attracted nearly 34,600 signatures as of Wednesday.

In a March 12 statement, Kelly said she shares many of the concerns Catholics have raised about the “black mass,” noting there are “more constructive ways to protest and express disagreements without insulting or denigrating sacred religious symbols.”

“However, as governor, I also have a duty to protect protesters’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression, regardless of how offensive or distasteful I might find the content to be. Since these rights are constitutionally protected, the Governor’s Office has limited authority to respond to such actions,” Kelly continued. 

In the interest of keeping the capitol “open and accessible to the public while ensuring all necessary health and safety regulations are enforced,” however, Kelly said the “black mass” event will need to take place outside on the capitol grounds, rather than inside the capitol building itself. 

“[N]o protests will be allowed inside the Statehouse on March 28,” Kelly concluded. 

Chuck Weber, executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, was unimpressed with Kelly’s response, telling CNA in a statement that her March 12 message “reeks of condescension and a willful ignorance about what is scheduled to happen.”

“Make no mistake: a vile and despicable Satanic worship ritual has been approved to take place on the grounds of the Kansas State Capitol, ‘The People’s House.’ Moving it from the living room to the front porch changes nothing,” Weber said. 

“Where is the condemnation of this provocative expression of hatred and anti-Catholic bigotry?” he said.

Weber also informed CNA that the organizer of the group planning the “black mass” has been telephoning the Catholic Conference for the purpose of “taunting me and the bishops,” even texting Weber personally to harass him and boast of his intention to “kill Jesus.” The group has engaged in anti-Catholic political protests in the past, including recently at the Kansas March for Life. 

For their part, the Catholic bishops of the state are urging the faithful to counter the planned event through prayer, good works such as seeking out volunteer opportunities with Catholic Charities, and by contacting their lawmakers to ask them to shut the event down. 

“If true, this explicit demonstration of anti-Catholic bigotry will be an insult to not only Catholics, but all people of good will. Spiritual and legal responses are being explored,” the bishops said in a joint statement shared with CNA March 6. 

“The Catholic Bishops of Kansas ask that first and foremost, we pray for the conversion of those taking part in this event, as well as each person’s own conversion of heart during this sacred Season of Lent. The Kansas Catholic Conference will continue to update the faithful as the situation unfolds.”

Nearby Benedictine College announced March 10 that students and staff will be dedicating the month’s weekly Holy Hours, Rosaries, and Memorare prayers to the intention of the conversion of those involved in the sacrilegious event, and to the intention that faith will grow in Kansas.

Catholic opposition to “black mass” events has a history of success in recent years. 

Last October, Catholics in Atlanta were outraged and called to prayer when a “black mass” event was announced by The Satanic Temple, a provocative Salem, Massachusetts-based political organization that denies belief in the supernatural and is known for protesting religious symbolism in public spaces.

After legal action by the Atlanta archdiocese, The Satanic Temple admitted it did not have a consecrated host and did not intend to use one in its “mass.”

In 2014, a planned “black mass” at Harvard University sparked considerable outcry from Catholics, as did another one later that year in Oklahoma City. The latter led to a successful lawsuit from the Oklahoma City archdiocese against an occult group that claimed to have obtained a consecrated host, leading to the host’s safe return. 

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262709/kansas-governor-says-black-mass-must-take-place-outside-capitol-building