Goat-Headed Satanic Statue Unveiling Protested By Hundreds At Catholic Mass

Hundreds of people attended Mass at a Detroit Catholic Church in protest of an 8.5-foot bronze statue of goat-headed Satan that hundreds came to see, according to the Associated Press. A group called the Satanic Temple unveiled the Baphomet statue during a private event on in a Detroit industrial building on Saturday, which people could attend starting at $25 dollars a ticket.

Its location was kept secret by the group until the last minute to avoid public demonstrations planned for its unveiling, according to the Independent. Leading up to the statue’s unveiling, the group also received messages from people threatening to burn the venue of the event down and blow up the statue, according to the Raw Story. In response, around 250 people attended mass Saturday morning at St. Joseph’s Church in prayer for the city and in protest of the statue’s unveiling, according to the Detroit News.

The Satanic Temple originally intended to unveil the statue in public, but the owner of the venue, Bert’s Marketplace, returned the rental feel to the group after finding out about the statue unveiling.

The group unsuccessfully attempted to have the statue displayed near a monument of the Ten Commandments, which was located on state grounds of the Oklahoma Capitol. But in June, the state Supreme Court ruled that the display of the Ten Commandments -- or any religious statues on state grounds -- violated the state’s constitution. The Satanic Temple claimed the move as a victory, according to the New York Times.

Following the unveiling of the satanic statue, the group intends to place it outside the Arkansas Statehouse in Little Rock, the same location where another Ten Commandments monument is planned.