The Satanic Temple is celebrating 10 years of existence with its SatanCon convention in Boston this weekend, but it’s probably not what you think.

The organization is both a theater for American satire and a place for believers.

Not to be confused with the Satanic Church, the temple does not formally deify Satan as the personification of evil, but rather sees him as a literary character, a necessary rebel, while mocking traditional religion and drawing government attention to institutions like the Catholic Church, said co-founder Malcolm Jarry.

“They believe in a literary representation of Satan,” Jarry said of the temple’s approximately 700,000 members worldwide. «He is a heroic figure fighting against tyrannical authority and for humanity, even if it is a losing battle.»

Still, the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston seems shaken by the prospect of members of the Satanic Temple in red suits and devil horns in a costume shop near the Copley Place mall.

The archdiocese is counterprogrammed with a weekend of solemn acts.

The Baphomet statue in the conversion room of the Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts, in 2019.Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images file

«We are approaching it through a balanced and prayer-focused response,» Terrence Donilon, spokesman for the archdiocese, told the Catholic News Agency last week. «We are finalizing a list of places throughout our archdiocese where we will meet.»

The weekend convention at the Boston Marriott Copley Place is packed, temple organizers say, boasting that it will be the largest satanic gathering in history.

The convention, which is scheduled to include temple rituals, a market and a wedding chapel, also caps a successful 10 years for the organization, symbolically based in a Victorian home in Salem, Massachusetts, Jarry said.

It was established after Jarry met Lucien Greaves when they were studying at Harvard. The two agreed to launch a group with a mission to keep religious freedom inclusive while keeping the separation of church and state alive.

He described the typical temple member as «anyone who doesn’t conform» and those who are «marginalized people.»

These Satanists support women’s shelters, highway cleanups and addiction recovery centers, he said. A big problem for the temple is the right to abortion. He recently launched a telehealth clinic in New Mexico that she says provides abortion medications by mail.

It is a legitimate church, according to the United States government.

In 2019, the temple persuaded the IRS to admit it not just as a tax-exempt religion, but as a proper church.

«Being recognized as a church by both the IRS and the legal system makes a world of difference,» said Jarry, who declined to divulge personal details such as his age.

The temple and the Catholic Church have clashed before. In 2014, the temple promoted a Black Mass at Harvard University that led the archdiocese to ask the institution to disassociate itself from the temple.

In 2016, the temple also unsuccessfully challenged the city of Boston to give it the same amount of time to perform an invocation before a City Council meeting as other churches had done.

The weekend event is dedicated to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who was on the City Council at the time. The temple has accused her of denying her equal access to public spaces and events. But not this time.

Wu’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

«Public forums need to be open,» Jarry said. «And they need to accept people of all faiths.»