CNA Staff, Mar 27, 2025 /
15:50 pm

Amid plans for a blasphemous “black mass” at the Kansas Capitol building set to take place on March 28, Catholics in the state and elsewhere are urging a prayerful, peaceful response, the centerpiece of which will be adoration and Mass at a Catholic church directly opposite the Capitol.

Organized by the Satanic Grotto, the “black mass” — an explicit parody of the Catholic Mass — is set to begin around 10 a.m. Originally slated to take place inside the Capitol rotunda itself, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly later decreed that the event must take place outside, though organizers of the ritual have said they plan to defy Kelly’s order and enter the Capitol building “around 11:30.”

A promotional flyer for the “mass” posted on Reddit lists the “components” of the ritual, which include the “Denounciation [sic] of Christ,” the “Desecration of the Eucharist,” and the “Corruption of the Blood.”

To counter the Satanic event, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, will lead a Eucharistic Holy Hour at Assumption Catholic Church, which is directly across the street from the Capitol.

The Holy Hour will begin at 11 a.m. Friday followed by noon Mass. Similar Holy Hours and Masses are planned in the neighboring Kansas dioceses of Wichita, Salina, and Dodge City. 

The planned Satanic ritual is an “affront to all Christians,” Naumann noted in a recent statement, but he urged the faithful not to “succumb to anger and violence, as that would be cooperating with the devil.”

During the authentic Catholic Mass, “we will pray for God to bless those who blaspheme him and who mock those who believe in Jesus Christ. After all, on Calvary, Jesus implored his heavenly Father to forgive those who crucified him because they did not know what they were doing,” Naumann wrote. 

The archbishop noted that Pope Francis recently announced he will canonize Blessed Bartolo Longo, a 19th-century Italian who embraced the occult and Satanism, becoming a Satanic priest and promising his soul to the devil. 

Amid the fervent prayers of his family, a priest motivated Longo, on the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to make a sincere confession and return to the Church. He became a devout and charitable Catholic and even later inspired St. John Paul II to create the luminous mysteries of the rosary. 

“Catholics should not underestimate Satan, his craftiness and power. However, as long as we keep close to Jesus, we need not fear the devil. Throughout the Gospel, we see Our Lord’s authority over the demonic, liberating many who had given themselves to Satan,” Naumann wrote. 

“If we seize the opportunity to draw closer to Jesus through prayer, then we can make this attempt to mock and blaspheme our Catholic faith into what Satan most fears and despises,” the prelate said. 

“Let us pray that the Lord of Life can penetrate and change the hearts of the Satanists of our time with his merciful love. St. Bartolo Longo, pray for us and especially for those who have become ensnared by the evil one. All things are possible with God!”

Archdiocese filed lawsuit over alleged theft of consecrated hosts

Naumann had on March 14 filed a lawsuit in Leavenworth County District Court seeking an order to secure the safe return of any consecrated hosts in the Satanist group’s possession. Satanist groups intending to stage so-called “black masses” have on at least one other occasion boasted of possessing a stolen consecrated host with an intent to desecrate it. 

Naumann settled the lawsuit after the Satanist leaders testified under oath that the hosts and wine they plan to desecrate in the ritual are not “Catholic in origin.”

The planned Satanic event has sparked a heated debate among Kansas lawmakers as to whether the event should be allowed to go forward. The Legislature passed a nonbinding resolution March 20 denouncing the planned ritual. 

(Story continues below)

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The leader of the Satanic Grotto, Michael Stewart, who has described himself as an atheist who does not believe in Satan, posted a video this week in which he said he expects “up to 5,000 counterprotestors” to show up at the Capitol during his event. 

“5,000 Catholics are what the Capitol Police are preparing for,” Stewart claimed. 

A Catholic-led petition asking Kelly to shut down the event has attracted over 50,000 signatures as of Thursday. 

Students at Kansas’ Benedictine College are invited to pray a rosary in the school’s Mary’s Grotto at 11 a.m. on Friday, school spokesman Steve Johnson told CNA. 

Benedictine students can then participate in daily Mass at 12:10 p.m. that day, which will be offered with the intention for the conversion of those involved in the “black mass,” Johnson said.

Benedictine is in Atchison, about an hour northeast of Topeka. The school is not taking an official group to the capitol to take part in the prayerful protest, Johnson said, but he said some students may be going of their own volition.

A babysitter in Kansas who was asked by a child to check for monsters under their bed was stunned to discover a man hiding there, police have said.

The shocking incident occurred on 24 March at a property just outside the city of Great Bend, when the sitter was seeking to put the children she was looking after to bed. However, one of them was afraid.

“One child complained there was a ‘monster’ under their bed. When the victim attempted to show the child there was nothing under the bed, she came face-to-face with a male suspect who was hiding there,” police said in a statement.

“An altercation ensued with the babysitter and one child was knocked over in the struggle. The suspect then fled the scene before deputies arrived.”

After police got to the property the victim identified the suspect as Martin Villalobos Jr, 27, who once lived there.

The next morning, deputies spotted Villalobos and after a short short chase on foot caught and arrested him.

Villalobos was charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated battery, child endangerment, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer and violation of a protection from abuse order. He is being held in lieu of a $500,000 bond.

LOS ANGELES – A measles outbreak that began in southwestern Kansas has rapidly expanded to 23 cases and may be connected to earlier outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico, which have collectively sickened more than 370 people, according to state and federal health officials.

At the same time, Ohio health authorities confirmed that a case in Ashtabula County has led to 10 infections, marking a concerning resurgence of the highly contagious disease across multiple states.

Where are measles outbreaks spreading in Kansas and Ohio?

What we know:

In Kansas, the Department of Health and Environment said Wednesday that the outbreak has more than doubled since Friday, when only 10 cases had been reported. The infections have now spread across six counties: Grant, Morton, Stevens, Haskell, Gray, and Kiowa.

Nearly all of the Kansas cases are in people under 18. The outbreak began with a case identified in Stevens County on March 13. In response, Kansas health officials have issued an alert to medical providers and are recommending early MMR vaccination for infants 6 to 11 months old living in or near affected counties — a measure typically reserved for outbreak situations.

In Ohio, the state health department confirmed that 10 cases are currently in Ashtabula County. A separate case involving a visitor in Knox County led to exposure concerns across multiple counties. Ohio previously saw a large outbreak in 2022, which sickened 85 people in central parts of the state.

What we don’t know:

It remains unclear how long these outbreaks will continue to grow or whether they will spread to additional states with similarly low vaccination rates. 

Health officials have not identified a single source linking the Kansas and Ohio outbreaks to those in Texas and New Mexico, though potential connections are being investigated. 

It’s also unknown how many exposed individuals may develop symptoms in the coming days, given the disease’s incubation period.

How are other states involved in the outbreak?

The backstory:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that measles cases in 2025 have already surpassed all reported cases in 2024 — even before the Kansas and Ohio clusters were added. As of Tuesday, New Mexico had 43 outbreak-related cases, and Texas reported 327. Oklahoma has nine cases linked to the Texas and New Mexico outbreaks.

Public health experts say the Texas outbreak, which began in January, could last for months. If it spreads further into undervaccinated communities, it may continue for a year or more — and could put the U.S. at risk of losing its measles elimination status.

Why vaccination rates are a key concern

By the numbers:

Health officials emphasize that the MMR vaccine — a two-dose series typically given before kindergarten — is about 97% effective at preventing measles. But several Kansas counties in the outbreak have lower-than-recommended vaccination rates:

Morton County: 82%

Stevens County: 83%

Haskell County: 58%

Gray County: 66%

Public health experts recommend a 95% vaccination rate to prevent outbreaks. Kansas’ state health department warns that more cases are likely to emerge in and around the affected counties, especially among the unvaccinated.

In Ohio, CDC data from the 2023–24 school year shows that 89% of kindergarteners were vaccinated against measles — below the optimal threshold.

What they’re saying:

“Given the measles activity in Texas, New Mexico, and other states around the country, we’re disappointed but not surprised we now have several cases here in Ohio and known exposure in some counties,” said Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff.

“This disease can be very serious, even deadly, but it is almost entirely avoidable by being properly vaccinated,” he added.

Jill Bronaugh, a spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said, “Due to the highly contagious nature of measles, additional cases are likely to occur within the current outbreak area and the surrounding counties, especially among those who are unvaccinated.”