Making “black masses” open to the public exposes people to serious evil, an exorcist warned this week in the wake of news that a satanic church plans to stage the ritual in a public venue in Oklahoma City.

“You cannot attend such an event—even if one does so merely out of curiosity, and not with any firm desire to worship Satan—without being adversely affected,” the exorcist cautioned, in an exclusive interview with Aleteia. “The mere fact that this black mass in Oklahoma City will be public lends it a certain legitimacy, and I suspect that some people will go simply to be entertained. What they may not realize immediately is that simply by going, they will open themselves to the power of the demonic.”

The event is planned for a 92-seat auditorium Sept. 21 at the Oklahoma City Civic Center. Tickets went on sale Wednesday. As of today, about 10 have been sold.

Encyclopaedia Britannica defines a black mass as "a blasphemous and usually obscene burlesque of the true mass performed by Satanic cults. The naked back of a woman often serves as an altar, and a validly consecrated host is generally used to intensify the mockery. The rite commonly incorporates other elements of Satanic magic."

"The Black Mass has been a feared ritual, and now it’s being brought into the light!” trumpted a promotional on the civic center’s website. “This will be not only enlightening but educational as well. This Black Mass will [be] conducted for the public to attend with certain adaptations to allow for a legal celebration."

That includes clothing the "female altar," Adam Daniels, head of Dakhma of Angra Mainyu, the satanic church in Oklahoma City behind the event, explained in an interview earlier this week.

Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley has called on community leaders to reconsider whether it is an appropriate use of public space.

“For more than 1 billion Catholics worldwide and more than 200,000 Catholics in Oklahoma, the Mass is the most sacred of religious rituals,” the archbishop said in a statement. “It is the center of Catholic worship and celebrates Jesus Christ’s redemption of the world by his death and resurrection. In particular, the Eucharist—which we believe to be the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ – is the source and summit of our faith.

“That’s why we’re astonished and grieved that the Civic Center would promote as entertainment and sell tickets for an event that is very transparently a blasphemous mockery of the Mass,” he continued. “The ‘Black Mass’ that is scheduled for the Civic Center in September is a satanic inversion and distortion of the most sacred beliefs not only of Catholics, but of all Christians."

This would be the second black mass planned as a public exhibition this year. The first, which had been scheduled for May at Harvard University, was cancelled after a public outcry.

In spite of that, the exorcist, who spoke with Aleteia (on condition of anonymity because of the nature of his work), said he is not aware of public black masses being on the rise.

“Perhaps it is the start of a strategy by the satanists,” he speculated. “No doubt there are plenty of black Masses going on behind closed doors, though. The enemy never sleeps, and while I do not know if the number of those who openly identify themselves as satanists is growing, certainly the numbers of those who self-identify as agnostic, atheistic, or not associated with any religious group is growing.

“In other words, we have a growing class of people in the U.S. who do not profess any type of religious belief, which leaves them free to believe what they will and define morality for themselves,” he continued. In my experience as a priest, it also leaves them more susceptible to the power of evil.”

This exorcist said that as the question of religious freedom has come into the public eye in recent years, particularly with the controversy over the HHS mandate, “it is not surprising to me that satanists are seeking to legitimize their heinous ‘religion’ publicly and demand certain freedoms.”

Indeed, Daniels, the head of the Oklahoma City satanic group, told Aleteia earlier this week that the public black mass is meant to be “a defiant act to show the Catholics that Satanism will stand up and fight for our religious rights.” He said his church is trying to “bring about tolerance for our religious freedom for the satanic religion. We have a legally-filed church…and bringing out the black mass as one of the rituals of satanism to educate the public."

In a follow-up email, Daniels explained that the Dakhma of Angra Mainyu represents “religious satanism,” as opposed to the “atheistic satanism” represented by the New York-based Satanic Temple that failed to present the black mass at Harvard. “We are religious Satanism, down to me conducting the first legally-binding Satanic Wedding in 2012,” Daniels said. "Marriage liscesnce and all.”

All this may come as a shock to many people, but the exorcist interviewed by Aleteia says the broader picture is just as troubling.