The devil’s in these details.
A Kansas bishop claims a group of Satanists stole sacred wafers and wine to use in a “Black Mass” they’re holding at the state capitol — but the unholy hell-raisers claim their body and blood of Christ merely came from “Pope Amazon.”
Kansas City Catholic Archbishop Joseph Naumann sued Satanic Grotto leaders Travis Roberts and Michael Stewart in Leavenworth District Court Friday, accusing them of using “theft, fraud, deception, wrongful taking, or other form of misappropriation” to obtain the holy host and wine.
“Consecrated Hosts and Wine are in fact the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ,” Naumann’s filing read, explaining that such sacred objects could only ever fall into Satanists’ hands through devilish design.
But the lord of darkness had nothing to do with it, according to Satanist Stewart, who told the Kansas City Star that his sacred snacks “came from Pope Amazon” — meaning he bought them online.
Stewart also brushed aside virulent reactions that his group’s plans for the March 28 Black Mass — a sort of inverted Catholic service he described as “a cathartic expression of sorrow, rage, and healing” — have inflamed.
“You’re going to see a book get torn, a cross get broken, a cracker get crunched, and wine get drunk, and that is the scariest bit of what we were planning to do,” Stewart said.
But state lawmakers are not so sure, with debates raging all the way to the floor of the state congress Thursday to discuss whether the Satanic ceremony — initially planned for inside the statehouse rotunda — would be allowed to happen.
The plans were ultimately upheld on the grounds of First Amendment free speech rights — but Gov. Laura Kelly ordered that the ritual take place outside the capitol, and characterized the group’s plans as “insulting” and “denigrating.”
“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,” she said.
Contrary to popular belief, Satanists do not worship the devil but consider themselves atheists who value empowering the individual.
Satan serves as a symbolic figure of “liberty and individualism,” according to the Church of Satan’s official website, and not as an actual entity as is characterized in the Bible.
Nevertheless, the archbishop claimed the plans were intended to use “desecration” and “corruption of the Blood” to “intentionally cause harm to Archbishop Naumann, the Catholic Church, and countless Catholics in Kansas and around the world.”
Some local lawmakers think they’re just attention seekers.
“The Satanists did this specifically to get your attention, and it worked,” said Rep. Silas Miller (D-Wichita) the Kansas Reflector reported. “And sadly, we’re still missing the point.”
As for Stewart, he told the Kansas City Star he means business and is ready to go to jail for it.
“I’m wearing clean underwear and everything. We’re all in on this,” he said.
