(OSV News) -- A Satanic group's plans for a so-called "black mass" in the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka on March 28 have energized widespread Catholic condemnation.
In a March 6 post on Facebook, the Kansas Catholic Conference said such "a sacrilegious event" would be an "explicit demonstration of anti-Catholic bigotry" that would be "an insult to not only Catholics but all people of good will."
Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, said in a March 10 statement the college "has pledged prayers" all month for "conversion of the hearts of the people of Kansas and the conversion of the Satanists" planning the event.
Gov. Laura Kelly, Democrat, declared March 12 that the group will not be allowed inside the Capitol, but Michael Stewart, the founder and president of the Satanic Grotto, said the group would attempt to defy that.
Kelly also said she was not planning to stop the event, instead ordering it to move outdoors.
"There are more constructive ways to protest and express disagreements without insulting or denigrating sacred religious symbols," she said in a statement. "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. That said, it is important to keep the Statehouse open and accessible to the public while ensuring all necessary health and safety regulations are enforced.
"Therefore," her statement concluded, "all events planned for March 28 will be moved outdoors to the grounds surrounding the Statehouse."
In a statement emailed to OSV News early March 13, Chuck Weber, executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, said Kelly's statement "reeks of condescension and a willful ignorance about what is scheduled to happen."
He also called it a "provocative expression of hatred and anti-Catholic bigotry," adding, "The Catholic bishops of Kansas will continue to explore legal and spiritual options in response."
The Satanic Grotto is a Kansas-based nonprofit. Its webpage describes the group as "an independent and non-denominational Satanic church that utilizes philosophies from many walks of the left-hand path. We are feminist, LBGTQ allies, and Anti racist."
A "black mass" is a parody of a Catholic Mass, and versions of it have been performed for centuries.
The event's stated intention, the organization's said, is sacrilege and blasphemy and that "God will fall and Kansas will be embraced by the black flame of Lucifer."
Benedictine is dedicating March's weekly holy hours, rosaries, and Memorare prayers "to the intention of the conversion of those involved in the sacrilegious event and that faith will grow in Kansas."
Stephen D. Minnis, Benedictine's president, noted that Satanists also appeared at a recent statewide March for Life counterprotest.
"Pope Francis has reminded the Church that our greatest battle is a spiritual one against evil and said 'For this spiritual combat, we can count on the powerful weapons that the Lord has given us,' especially the Eucharist and the rosary."
Stewart told the Oklahoma Voice, an online news outlet, that Gov. Kelly, a Democrat, was "bowing to religious and Republican pressure."
In its early March Facebook post, the state Catholic conference, which is the public policy arm of the Catholic bishops, said 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."
