Satanic Temple Asks to Deliver Boston City Council Invocation

BOSTON, MA — The Satanic Temple's Boston arm is asking to provide opening remarks for a city council meeting, a role its leader claims has skewed heavily toward Christians to the exclusion of religious minorities.

Invited religious or community leaders often offer an opening prayer for Boston City Council meetings. The local Satanic Temple reached out to councilors this week to request it be allowed to offer an invocation sa well.

In a letter sent to Council President Michelle Wu (embedded below), the head of Boston's Satanic Temple wrote, "It would be shocking if I am turned away due to my faith while other religions are allowed to hold prayers in a government building. In fact, I would say that it would be a breach of the first amendment."

Several chapters of The Satanic Temple have made similar requests in cities around the world, the temple's head told The Boston Globe.

According to the Satanic Temple, Wu wrote back the following:

"Thank you very much for taking the time to reach out. As my staff mentioned, each Councilor has the chance to invite 2-3 faith leaders per year to deliver the opening invocation at one of our Council meetings. The invitations are often used to recognize faith leaders who are active in the community and organizations that are representative of their districts. There is no restriction or criteria based on any Councilors' religious preferences. Many of us have a long list of folks we'd like to invite but haven't been able to accommodate. Everyone is welcome to attend the weekly City Council session, to testify at any City Council hearing, and to get involved in our policy work."

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