By Most Rev. Edward J. Slattery
My Dear People:
As has been widely reported, a Satanic Black Mass has been scheduled for September 21 in Oklahoma City’s Civic Center. As a part of Satanic worship, a Black Mass attempts to invert the action and meaning of the Eucharist in order to mock Christ’s sacrifice and worship Satan through an orgiastic ritual of pain and perversion. It blasphemes everything which we hold as sacred and redemptive; and the spiritual dangers it poses ought not be dismissed. Since the Civic Center has not responded positively to the pleas of the archbishop of Oklahoma City not to host this event in a taxpayer supported public venue, I am asking the faithful Catholics in the Diocese of Tulsa to fight this blasphemy through prayer and fasting:
1. Please keep the nine days prior to the Feast of the Assumption as an extraordinary period of prayer and penance. I am asking every Catholic to abstain from all meat and meat products from August 6 through the 14th. I am also asking that you consecrate your hunger with a daily recitation of a decade of the rosary and the familiar Prayer to Saint Michael. Printed copies of these prayers are available in the bulletin and at the entrances of the church. Be strong and encourage your friends to also be strong.
2. On Assumption Day, August 15, we will ask Our Lady on her Feast, to intercede for us and protect us. On that day I, in the Cathedral, and every priest in his own parish, will pray a special prayer written by Pope Leo XIII for the defense of the Church against the attack of the enemy and his apostate angels.
3. Should these prayers and this period of fasting not effect the cancellation of this event, then I will ask every priest in the diocese to conduct a Eucharistic Holy Hour on September 21 at the same time (7:00 p.m.) as this profanity is being celebrated in Oklahoma City. Wherever possible, I ask that Eucharistic processions—especially outdoor processions—be arranged as part of these holy hours. Let us give a public witness to our faith in the Eucharist which is being so profoundly mocked and ridiculed by this event.
From the snares of the devil, deliver us, O Lord!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Edward J. Slattery
Bishop of Tulsa
Edward James Slattery was ordained a priest on April 26, 1966, for the Archdiocese of Chicago and was assigned as associate pastor of St. Jude the Apostle Parish in South Holland, Illinois, where he served from 1966 to 1971. In 1971, he began his service with the Catholic Church Extension Society, a funding agency for the American home missions. While working at Extension, Father Slattery was appointed associate pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish in 1973. This was an inner-city Hispanic parish on the south side of Chicago. He was named pastor of St. Rose of Lima in 1976 and remained in that position until 1989. Late in 1993, Father Slattery was notified that Pope John Paul II had chosen to name him a bishop. Bishop Slattery was installed as third bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa at Holy Family Cathedral on January 12, 1994. By the Grace of God, he continues to serve as shepherd for the people of God in eastern Oklahoma.
This letter has been reprinted with permission and can be found at http://www.dioceseoftulsa.org/index.cfm?load=news&newsarticle=2897&page=272.
