The Satanic Temple is installing a “Baby Baphomet” statue among the Illinois Capitol Rotunda holiday display.
The statue will be installed on December 20th at 1 pm.
The Satanic Temple recently made headlines for seeking a court declaration to allow abortions for their Texas members, claiming that the laws violate their “religious freedom” to perform “abortion rituals.”
In a press release about the Baphomet statue, the group said that it is in celebration of the Satanic holiday Sol Invictus, which, like Christmas, takes place on the 25th of December.
According to their website, the day is a “celebration of being unconquered by superstition and consistent in the pursuit and sharing of knowledge.”
“The new display, created by artist Chris P. Andres, depicts the Satanic deity Baphomet as a swaddling babe,” the Satanic Temple said in their statement.
The group noted that it is third year displaying their statues in the Illinois Capitol building — “except for 2020, when the Capitol building was closed for all displays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“This year’s tradition marks a greater urgency in the Baphomet’s message of harmony and reconciliation,” noted The Satanic Temple’s Director of Campaign Operations Erin Helian in the press release.
The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois and Bishop Thomas Paprocki recently installed a nativity scene in the rotunda and are outraged by the upcoming addition.
According to a report from the State Journal-Register, Paprocki said at the nativity unveiling that satanic displays “should have no place in this Capitol or any other place.”
“Mocking the millions of Christians in the state of Illinois and billions around the world by depicting the baby Jesus this Christmas with the ‘satanic deity’ Baphomet is the very definition of evil and causing division, but that is to be expected from an organization that is in existence to troll people of faith,” said Andrew Hansen, a spokesperson for the diocese, according to their report.
The Satanic Temple invited the Bishop to attend their event, which he flatly declined.
“Bishop Paprocki declines the invitation to associate with evil and urges all people of true religious faith to shun the devil,” Hansen said.
