Raleigh bishop allows pagan prayer ritual in Catholic church

LifeSite News ^ | October 2, 2026 | Emily Mangiaracina

[ebb tide]

Raleigh bishop allows pagan prayer ritual in Catholic church

A pagan 'smudging' ceremony and 'prayer in the four directions' took place in a Catholic Church under the watch of the bishop of Raleigh during a celebration of 'multiculturalism.'

The bishop of Raleigh, North Carolina presided over a shamanistic “smudging” ceremony to celebrate St. Catherine “Kateri” Tekakwitha, who rejected her native Mohawk religion.

Pascua Taqui tribe member Richard Duran led the congregation of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Durham in a “smudging” ceremony in July, according to an archived page of North Carolina Catholics, a diocesan publication. Smudging is a shamanic ritual that involves burning herbs and resins to “cleanse” a space of negative energy and “brin(g) in good spirits,” according to a Native American site. The smoke is “shared with people as an act of prayer and spiritual connection,” NC Catholics reported.

“Father David Miller, who is chaplain to the Native American Catholic Community in the diocese and has ancestral ties to the Shawnee, Lenape and Cherokee tribes of his home state of Oklahoma, offered a traditional prayer in the four directions,” the report stated.

The prayer in the four directions is a pagan prayer traditionally understood to be directed to the Creator but also calls upon “spirits” associated with the North, South, East and West.

Ryan Dial of the Lumbee Tribe in North Carolina also introduced three Native traditional dances, performed by his wife, his sister, and another Native American. After lunch, Dial delivered a presentation on “colonization, false dichotomies, native religion and how to become an ally.”

Renée Fisher, African Ancestry Ministry and Evangelization Network (AAMEN) and Native American Church (NAC) administrative assistant, reflected on the meaning of the inculturation and encouraged people to embrace the whole world that surrounds them while also treating traditions with reverence and remaining attuned, for example, to both the Church and Indigenous peoples.

Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama of Raleigh earlier addressed the attendees, joking that he would dance “with his heart and not his body” during the celebration, NC Catholics said.

A flyer for the “multicultural celebration” reads “Sacred Earth, Sacred Unity: Walking Together with St. Kateri Tekakwitha,” and features an image of the saint superimposed on a cross.

Developing…

[Cronos]

Swanks Hasn’t gotten around to being wrong on Paganism yet

I know discussions on Christian belief or on tye GOP may be irritating and/or irrelevant to you. Feel free to post your articles on Wiccan or Wakkan or Astru or whatever else your group call I.

you can educate us on your pagan beliefs if you wish, though quite frankly most of us couldn't care as we're not interested in teachings of reprobates.

[Cronos]

Phil, you want to point fingers at Catholic history and Walter Veith videos, but let’s look closely at the actual foundation of Seventh-day Adventism. Before you accuse others, you need to answer for the non-Christian doctrines built into your own movement:

1. Denying the Deity of Christ: Your movement's founders—including James White, J.N. Andrews, and Joseph Bates—explicitly rejected the Trinity and taught that Jesus was a created being, aligning with ancient Arianism.
   
2. Demoting Jesus to an Angel: Adventism teaches that Jesus is actually the created archangel Michael, stripping Him of His uncreated, eternal Godhead.
   
3. Satan Bearing Sins: Adventism teaches that Satan—not Jesus alone—bears the ultimate responsibility and load of our sins as the "scapegoat" in the heavenly sanctuary, which undermines the finished, complete work of the Cross.
   
4. The Investigative Judgment: You teach that Christ’s work was *not* finished at the Cross, but that in 1844 He began a secret celestial trial to investigate believers—a doctrine invented solely to cover up the failed prophecy of William Miller.
   
5. False Prophecy: Your prophetess, Ellen G. White, pushed the "Shut Door" false prophecy, claiming probation for sinners had permanently closed in 1844.

Phil, you are throwing stones from a glass house made of 19th-century Millerite wreckage. Before you worry about everyone else, look at the anti-Christian, Arian roots of your own sect.

[ebb tide]

Just as I thought. You can't prove it. Once again, you're full of hot air.

Critics point out that Kateri Tekakwitha chose to leave her native Mohawk religious traditions behind to embrace Catholicism, making the use of Indigenous rituals during her feast a point of contention among theologians and parishioners.

[Cronos]

Ebb, once again you prove to be like the other anti-Catholic and not read.

https://dioceseofraleigh.org/native-american-catholic-community/saint-kateri-tekakwitha

If we look into what exactly happened we read that the smudging ceremony conducted at Holy Cross Church was explicitly adapted for a Christian setting honoring St. Kateri Tekakwitha. The burning of sage was used as a physical symbol of purification and prayers rising to the Trinity—the exact same theological purpose as burning frankincense in a Traditional Latin Mass (Psalm 141:2: “Let my prayer be counted as incense before thee”).

No Spirit Invocation took place

Catholic Indigenous events led or sanctioned by a bishop do not invoke spirits. The physical element (burning herbs) was retained as a cultural expression, while any non-Christian spiritual intent was replaced entirely with prayer directed solely to the One True God

[Cronos]

Whatabouttery and goalpost shifting are standrd antiCatholic tactics.

Ebb tide, every single “specific proposal” you posted has already been directly addressed and thoroughly dismantled with theology and Canon Law:

1. Lay Witnesses at Marriages?
Addressed. Spouses confer the Sacrament of Matrimony in Latin theology; lay delegation is already active in Canon 1112.

2. Lay Judges on Tribunals?
Addressed. Lay canon lawyers already serve as judges under Canon 1421 via delegated jurisdiction from the Bishop.

3. Sensus Fidei in Canon 749?
Addressed. It is a verbatim quote from St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Lumen Gentium §12.

4. Lay Majority in Diocesan Synods?
Addressed. Synods are purely consultative; the Bishop remains the sole legislator.

Calling detailed citations of Trent, St. Augustine, St. Thomas, and Canon Law “endless generalizing” doesn’t change the facts. Every specific point you raised was answered—and the answers disproved your narrative.

[ebb tide]

Ebb tide, the earth is not a goddess, but it is "sacred" because it was created by God (Psalm 24:1). Care for creation is rooted in Genesis 2:15 and traditional Christian stewardship.

Oh, for crying out loud. Satan was created by God, does that make him sacred also?

Both Bergoglio and Leo's Vatican have referred to the earth as "Mother".

"Mother Earth" Pagan Worship by Vatican Representative: Doctrine of the Faith Official makes Offering of Coca Leaves at Pachamama Ceremony during Official Church Meeting

Take off you're rose-colored glasses, Cronos.

And please don't tell us about St. Francis of Assisi; that analogy doesn't excuse the pachamama idolatry practiced by the synodal popes.

[AppyPappy]

Well, it is a Catholic church.

[ebb tide]

The burning of sage was used as a physical symbol of purification and prayers rising to the Trinity

That's another outright lie. The article never mentioned what you claim above. Nor did the archived diocesan article mention the Holy Trinity.

I'm finding that you often make things up out of thin air.

[Cronos]

Ebb tide, arguing that a Christian prayer service in a Catholic parish wasn't offered to God is your desperate semantic game.

Every Catholic liturgy, prayer service, and veneration of a saint is offered to the Holy Trinity. Claiming a prayer service inside Holy Cross Catholic Church wasn't directed to the Trinity because a brief news summary didn't print those exact words is absurd.

Media articles summarize events using brief, secular language. Catholic theology evaluates events by their ecclesial context and intent. A Catholic saint's feast day celebrated in a Catholic sanctuary under the authority of a Catholic bishop is, by definition, directed to the God of the Catholic Church.

Demanding that a news snippet explicitly spell out basic Catholic Catechism concepts just to avoid being called a "lie" shows you have run out of theological arguments.

What's your next attempt at whatabouttery?

[Cronos]

“Take off you’re rose-colored glasses”

Take off you are rose-colored glasses??

You are getting more incoherent and indignant like the other anti-Catholic posters when their whatabouttery is exposed

[Cronos]

Ebb tide, relying on false equivalences and sensational blog posts does not dismantle Christian doctrine.

You equating God's creation (the physical earth) with a fallen angel who freely rejected God is a complete logical breakdown.

• Satan is a fallen spirit who wills evil.
• The earth is the physical creation made by God and declared "very good" (Genesis 1:31).

Calling creation "sacred" in Christian theology means recognizing that God made it, sustains it, and manifests His glory through it (Romans 1:20).

• St. Francis of Assisi explicitly wrote in his Canticle of the Sun: "Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us."
• Dismissing St. Francis because it refutes your argument shows that your issue isn't paganism; it's a double standard.

Blog headlines reporting on civic or diplomatic gestures by Vatican envoys in South America (such as receiving traditional Andean cultural gifts like coca leaves) constantly mix up diplomatic courtesy with religious worship.

• Receiving a local agrarian cultural symbol or participating in a civic greeting is a cultural gesture, not an act of divine worship.
• Catholic theology judges acts by intent and object: worship (*latria*) belongs to the Trinity alone.

Attempting to frame poetic metaphors, Catholic saints, and diplomatic gestures as "pagan idolatry" relies on outrage blogs rather than Catholic dogmatic theology.

I wait to see what next you or other anti-Catholic posters pull out from the bag of whatabouttery

[ebb tide]

It wasn't a Catholic liturgy. It was a pagan ceremony invoking "spirits" from the four corners of the compass and the Holy Trinity was never mentioned.

You can't make up stuff like you do and get away with it.

You're ruining your what little credibility you have left.

A Catholic saint's feast day celebrated in a Catholic sanctuary under the authority of a Catholic bishop is, by definition, directed to the God of the Catholic Church."

Horse-hockey!

Anything goes in the synodal church.

[ebb tide]

It linked to a diocesan article; no mention of the Holy Trinity there either. You just decided to embellish it with a lie.

[ebb tide]

A Catholic pope, the Vicar of Christ, by definition is not to worship false gods.

But it happens.

[ebb tide]

I wait to see what next you or other anti-Catholic posters pull out from the bag of whatabouttery

Anti-idolatry is the opposite of anti-catholic.

You're the one pulling the Holy Trinity of the four corners of the compass.

[ebb tide]

Well, it is a Catholic church.

So is this:

Same church:

[ebb tide]

Read what the native american saint said

You mean the "narrative" that you just made up and can't produce?

[Philsworld]

---->as you believe Jesus is the angel Michael, right Philsworld?

I have no idea what you're talking about, because below is what the SDA church believes about Michael the archangel. Saying or implying anything else would be a lie, especially after years of me posting this statement CLEARLY laying out the belief of the SDA church on the topic.

"According to scriptures, Jesus is the angel of the LORD, the angel of God, the angel of the covenant, the Archangel Michael, who appeared time and again in the Old Testament to speak directly to His people. Michael is just another title for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, the principle messenger of the gospel (archangel) to humanity, but He is not a created being."

Revelation 21:8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, AND ALL LIARS, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Cave Cave Deus Videt!

[ebb tide]

You equating God's creation (the physical earth) with a fallen angel who freely rejected God is a complete logical breakdown.

No, I am not. I'm calling you out on describing the earth as sacred just because God made it.

You remind me of Hindus who won't kill cows because they're considered "sacred".

[ebb tide]

Saying or implying anything else would be a lie,...

Cronos does that often. So don't be surprised if he does.