Boston: Satanic 'black mass' at Harvard abruptly cancelled

Cardinal O'Malley last night (screen grab)

The satanic 'black mass' scheduled to be held last night at Harvard University, was abruptly canceled, amid a chorus of condemnation and protest from Catholic groups, university officials and students.

In a statement last night, Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club who were hosting the mass said they had decided to move it off campus. Later they announced they were no longer sponsoring the mass after plans to hold it at the Middle East club in Central Square in Cambridge fell through. They said: “The Satanic Temple has informed us that they will stage their own black mass ceremony at an undisclosed private location to ‘reaffirm their respect for the Satanic faith and to demonstrate that the most powerful response to offensive speech is to shame those who marginalize others by letting their own words and actions speak for themselves,’ ” the studies club said.

The initial plan to hold a black mass on the Harvard campus prompted widespread outrage. Harvard President Drew Faust said she was reluctantly allowing the event to go ahead, although she found it "abhorrent" out of a respect for "freedom of expression".

Hundreds of people, carrying rosaries and banners, took part in a eucharistic procession, organised by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. They walked from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology chapel in Cambridge to St Paul Church in Harvard Square for a Holy Hour. More than 1,500 people packed the church, including Drew Faust.

Fr Michael Drea, who led the prayers, said: “Tonight, my friends, we gather in this moment of prayer, as a parish, a university community, to celebrate the greatest gift that God has ever extended to us, His son Jesus Christ.

He said people of faith “all recognize the message of the Satanic black mass, they recognize it for what it is: an act of hatred . . . for the Catholic church.”

Cardinal Sean O’Malley told the Boston Globe: “Why people would want to do something that is so offensive to so many people in the community, whether they’re Catholic or not, it’s very repugnant.”

See the Boston Globe video interview with Cardinal O'Malley here: www.bostonglobe.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/05/12/cardinal-malley-calls-harvard-black-mass-repugnant/X3SEDvn2JIHdleevbqJdqO/story.html

See also: ICN 12 May 2014: Boston Catholics protest over planned 'satanic black mass' at Harvard + petition
www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=24712

Source: Archdiocese of Boston, Boston Globe