Thousands of Christians have united to protest a satanic ritual known as a "black mass" scheduled to be held at a public venue in Oklahoma later this year.
According to a report from the Christian Post, Dakhma of Angra Mainyu, the santic group overseeing the black mass, was co-founded by Adam Daniels, who is a registered sex offender. He reportedly plans to hold the mass in August at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall.
"The first ritual will [be] the black mass as done in 2014, and the second ritual will be the consumption of Mary by Jai Kali Maa. The second ritual will educate the public on the practice of ahrimanism," reads the event's description.
The Encyclopedia Britannica defines a"black mass" as "a blasphemous and usually obscene burlesque of the true mass performed by satanic cults."
In turn, Tradition Family Property, a conservative Roman Catholic group, has launched a petition to have the event canceled. So far, 104,794 people have signed the petition, which argues that "every Black Mass is a direct, deliberate and sinful act of hatred against God."
"Please spread the word to all your friends so we can stop this sacrilege. Your voice and prayers were decisive at Harvard University -- the satanic Black Mass there was stopped. Canceled. Saint Michael won a great victory that day. And God can win again," reads the petition, in part.
It continues: "Often, a Consecrated Host is stolen from a Catholic Church and then used to desecrate, mock and insult the Catholic Mass. The Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ is attacked in a most vile and unspeakable manner. These insults against God are not only offensive to Christians, but also repulsive to everyone of goodwill."
"I urge you to cancel this event which offends more than 1 billion Catholics worldwide, 200,000 Catholics in Oklahoma and countless more God-loving Americans. Sacrilege is simply NOT free speech."
In September 2014, the Dakhma of Angra Mainyu held a sold-out black mass at the Civic Center.
"I'm very glad that we get the opportunity to share with people what Satanism really is and not Hollywood portrays it to be," Daniels said at the time. "They like to say satanists get together and sacrifice animals and people, and that's not what we do."
Steve Hill, Oklahoma City Mayor Mike Cornett's chief of staff, said the mayor's office received 1,000 emails protesting the city allowing satanists to use a public building for an event mocking Christianity. However, the Oklahoma Parks and Recreation revealed it allowed for the black mass to take place for fear of litigation.
"If we had cancelled the event, we would likely have been sued by the ACLU, whom we know was watching the case very closely," stated a spokesperson.
"In the past, when the city has attempted to interfere with an individual's free exercise of speech on our property, we have been taken to federal court. We have lost each of those cases at our taxpayers' expense."
