Raleigh bishop allows pagan prayer ritual in Catholic church

LifeSite News ^ | October 2, 2026 | Emily Mangiaracina

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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Duran led the congregation of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Durham in a “smudging” ceremony in July, according to an archived page of North Carolina Catholics, a diocesan publication.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.

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