From April 28 to April 30, the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel will host SatanCon 2023, a gathering of Satanist followers. Its organizer, The Satanic Temple, defines it as "the largest satanic gathering in history." In response to the celebration of this event, the Catholic Church asked its followers to pray.
In a statement, the auxiliary bishop of Boston, Mark William O'Connell, asked the faithful not to protest against SatanCon 2023 to avoid problems:
It is important for the Archdiocese of Boston to have a response as many are disturbed by this; however, our response must be balanced and focused on prayer. The balance is between countering its intended evil effects, and, drawing attention to it and making it more prominent. To that end, we ask you to not organize or encourage any of your parishioners to go to the event to protest. It will only fuel the hate of those who support it and feed the media with images. Rather than protesting in person, we hope to storm the Heavens with prayer.
¡Tomemos por asalto el Cielo con la oración! Para hacer frente al masivo evento satánico “SatanCon 2023”, el Obispo Auxiliar de Boston, Mons. Mark William O’Connell, alentó a rezar esta especial oración a San Miguel Arcángel. pic.twitter.com/3eaIBfu7BQ
— ACI Prensa (@aciprensa) April 27, 2023
International Association of Exorcists: SatanCon "destroying the Christian faith"
The Catholic Church's petition was joined by the International Association of Exorcists (IAE). In a statement, this Catholic organization criticized SatanCon for "corrupting society and destroying the Christian faith":
It is very sad that all this takes place at Easter, but it does not seem to us accidental that the Satanist event ends on the day on which the night of Walpurga and the pagan feast of Beltane are celebrated. These dates have been appropriated by the "festive" calendar of Satanism today. Under the theme "Hexennacht (Witches' Night) in Boston," the conference organized by The Satanic Temple includes lectures, panel discussions and performances on aberrant topics aimed at corrupting society, denying the Christian message of salvation, degrading God's children and destroying the Christian faith.
