Headline Roundup • March 28th, 2025
‘Black Mass’ Held at Kansas Capitol, Satanic Leader Arrested
Religion And Faith,Satanism,Religious Freedom,Catholic,Eucharist,Catholic Mass,Christianity,Protests,Hate Speech,Catholics
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A “black mass” was held at the Kansas State Capitol Building on Friday, attended by around twenty-five members of “Satanic Grotto.” Christians attended in both prayer and protest.
The Details: The event resulted in the arrest of the satanic group’s leader after he punched a protester during an altercation and defied government orders not to protest inside the Capitol. A protester who tackled the leader for stomping on the Eucharist was apprehended as well. It is unconfirmed whether or not the Eucharist has been consecrated.
For Context: A black mass is a satanic ritual that aims to mock and parody the Catholic faith. It often includes satanic worship and desecration of the consecrated Eucharist used for Catholic masses, and it may also be used in principle to reject organized religion and integration of church and state. In early March, the Kansas House of Representatives passed a bipartisan resolution that addressed the ritual as “anti-Catholic bigotry.” Gov. Laura Kelly (D) denounced the ritual but did not ban it entirely, arguing that a ban would infringe on free speech.
How The Media Covered It: Media coverage of the mass was scarce across the political spectrum as of Friday evening. Most outlets that covered the story lead with the leader’s arrest rather than the mass itself, though few major outlets covered the story at all. Kansas Reflector (Lean Left bias) wrote that the event “pushed boundaries of free speech and the separation of church and state.”
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector
The bullhorn-powered war of words between satanists and Catholics boiled over into brawling and a handful of arrests Friday during an extraordinary event at the Kansas Capitol that pushed boundaries of free speech and the separation of church and state.
After about two hours of speeches, prayers and sign waving among hundreds of people mostly segregated by barricades staffed by law enforcement officers, Satanic Grotto president Michael Stewart, with supporters and reporters in tow, entering the Statehouse to conduct what he had described as a black mass. He was warned...
The organizer of a “black mass” that took place outside the Kansas state Capitol on Friday amid heavy Catholic protest was arrested shortly afterward in the Capitol building after punching a protester in the face.
A video from local news outlet WIBW shows Michael Stewart raising his arms and chanting in the Capitol rotunda, surrounded by a number of protesters urging him to stop. A young man later identified as Marcus Schroeder attempted to snatch what appeared to be papers from Stewart’s outstretched hands.
Video and images circulating on social media show...
A physical altercation inside the Kansas Statehouse Friday ended with Capitol Police arresting Satanic church leader Michael Stewart, capping off a morning of inflammatory religious demonstration. Stewart punched a man, Marcus Jeremiah Jared Schroeder, who repeatedly attempted to rip a booklet out of his hands while he called out to Satan from the Capitol’s first-floor rotunda. Both men were taken into custody and booked into the Shawnee County Jail, records show.
A physical altercation inside the Kansas Statehouse Friday ended with Capitol Police arresting Satanic church leader Michael Stewart, capping...
