“There have been some attempts to desecrate the Blessed Sacrament. Police warn us to be aware of such acts as they recur around Halloween, sometimes promoted by satanic groups.” That’s what the Archdiocese of Granada told its priests, asking them to take extreme care in temples against possible desecration coinciding with Halloween.
In the letter dated October 26, without specifying which parishes had been defiled, they asked not to leave the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle of churches that are not visited frequently. For example, Pulianas City Council has acknowledged acts of vandalism in its cemetery, with several tombstones and flower pots being broken. The city council wants to install a video surveillance system, in fact. But is there really a satanic group behind it?
What is known? The Galician cases are the most documented and above all point to something else. Between August and October, four churches in Jinzo de Limia, Noa, Gutierrez and Nigrán suffered the theft of liturgical objects and holy forms, and the Galician press spoke mainly of silver pieces. In Noa, the camera recorded five suspects with two silver cyboriums.
Two explanations were considered, selling silver or witchcraft rituals, but neither was confirmed by the researchers. There is no verified information to attribute the four cases to the same group or confirm a religious motivation. Additionally, none occurred during Halloween week: they were August 8, September 7 and 19, and October 7.
This is not an isolated incident. In Parla (Madrid) they took the tabernacle with about thirty holy forms from the parish chapel during catechesis and left nothing else untouched. The priest suggested that, given its proximity to Halloween, there might be a connection to satanic practices, although he admitted that this was only a suspicion. The Observatory for Religious Freedom, according to them, counted seven tabloid desecrations this year: four in Galicia, two in Madrid and one in Barcelona.
How many satanic groups are there in Spain? There is no official census, and due to its nature it is virtually impossible to have one. The estimation of the Church is the highest. Pastor Manuel Guerra, an ecclesiastical reference on these matters, spoke of more than 50 active satanic sects and about 6,000 people, in an interview with La Razón collected by Almudi. He himself cautioned against exaggerating or generalizing about religious crimes.
Communal analysts paint a more bleak picture. Vicente Jara, from the Ibero-American Network for the Study of Sects (RIES), author of a report on Satanism in Spain, distinguishes between vandalism carried out by young people, small groups reproducing rituals from books, and people with mental problems who believe they are acting on Satan’s orders. Regarding large international networks, he says there is no conclusive evidence. The same report recalls that the fear of Satanism in Spain originated from “satanic terror” imported from the United States.
That seems to be the case. The “Satanic Panic,” is actually an urban legend. Maldita.es investigates the viral warning about stolen cats for black people on Halloween: an American association that spread the warning in 1987 has now admitted that it is a myth. We only have to remember the “Bar España case”, which maintained that a satanic cult tortured and killed children in Benicarlo, was dismissed for lack of evidence, and since October 16 six people have been in court for spreading fraud in Castellon, as we reported.
In Seville, after the desecrations of Utrera and El Viso del Alcor in 2024, the government delegation clarified that they were not associated with any gangs. Antena 3 then reported that the Civil Guard did not rule out Satanism but speculated on general vandalism, and community psychologist expert José Miguel Cuevas saw this as unlikely. A man who set up an altar with human remains was arrested without confirming his connection with Satanism. Another time meant money: the sale of the gold teeth exposed the desecration of more than 160 tombs in Montjuic.
which can be said There is real theft and desecration of the Tabernacle, and the Church has reason to seek warning. That organized Satanism is behind it is a guess for now. Alpha y Omega, a canonist at the University of Navarre, maintains that there is not a wide spread of people who practice or know of the satanic mass. It is also maintained that these rituals are more common in Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. Neither the archdiocese nor the police provided further details.
Picture | Flickr
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