Harvard satanic black mass cancelled after protests and outcry

(Photo: Dora Pete)

A satanic black mass scheduled to take place at Harvard University has been cancelled after protests.

A black mass was set to take place at the Ivy League university on May 12, but was cancelled after the student group which organized it couldn't find a venue.

The Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club said in an email to LA Times: "Given that no other location has been willing to intercede, we will no longer be sponsoring this Black Mass."

The Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club had invited the Satanic Temple onto campus to conduct the satanic ritual. A black mass is a satanic ceremony that mocks the traditional Catholic mass and often involves desecration of the Eucharist, and inviting the devil in, instead of casting him out.

The cancellation comes as a relief, as the Archdiocese of Boston repeatedly asked students to cancel the ceremony.

"This activity separates people from God and the human community, it is contrary to charity and goodness, and it places participants dangerously close to destructive works of evil," the archdiocese said in a statement.

"I would say that the event is an attack on the Eucharist, regardless of what the organizers state," Archdiocese spokesman Terry Donilon told Fox News. "The event is offensive to Catholics and people of good will."

The Cultural Studies Club had previously stated that the black mass is not intend to offend anyone, and that the satanic ritual will be an "educational" event.

"Our purpose is not to denigrate any religion or faith, which would be repugnant to our educational purposes, but instead to learn and experience the history of different cultural practices," they wrote in a statement last week. "This performance is part of a larger effort to explore religious facets that continue to influence contemporary culture."

A holy hour had also been planned by the Archdiocese to combat the black mass.