City council meeting in Iowa opens with prayer to Satan

A man opened a city council meeting with an invocation that included a prayer to Satan on Tuesday in Ottumwa, Iowa. After the city council meeting was called to order, the mayor invited anyone who wanted to participate in the invocation to stand. Most in the room stood and bowed their heads as the man prayed to what he described as the dark father, and continued to stand for the entire prayer.

What did the man say? He asked Satan to let them “embrace luciferian impulse to eat of the tree of knowledge.” He asked for them to get rid of what he described as the comforting delusions of old. He said they should reason their solutions on the basis of agnosticism. He said to hold fast to truth and to stand against arbitrary authority that infringed on personal sovereignty. He ended his prayer with the phrase, “hail Satan.”

As the prayer continued, the camera appeared to show one person sitting down, while the rest remained standing with bowed heads. When he finished, everyone said the pledge of allegiance and sat down.

Did anyone object to the prayer? Shortly after the conclusion of the invocation, a citizen took to a microphone and demanded that the council reverse what he described as the curse that was placed on the city by the prayer. Mayor Benjamin Foote then ordered that the meeting observe 30 seconds of silence for those who needed to take time to focus on things to do so.

What is the law for invocations? Ottumwa adopted an invocation policy in January 2026, which allows for the beginning of meetings of decision for the city of Ottumwa be opened with an invocation to aid in additional guidance and blessings for the city and its citizens. The policy said that the invocation brings an opportunity to “include our Creator into our decision making.” The invocation cannot show preference or restrict a particular religion, so both organized and unorganized religious denominations, as well as other faiths, or the lack thereof, can be expressed, according to the policy.