Hundreds sign petition demanding Archbishop Tobin shut down radio station that plays satanic music
Hundreds have signed a petition demanding that Archbishop Joseph Cardinal Tobin shut down a Catholic university radio station that has been playing satanic music.
A year after investigative journalists revealed that a radio station funded by the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, has consistently played satanic heavy metal music, Tobin has done nothing to disband the station or remove its funding, according to the Lepanto Institute, a research and education organization dedicated to the defense of the Catholic Church against assaults from without as well as from within.
Students at the Catholic Seton Hall University run the station, WSOU 89.5 FM. Seton Hall belongs to the Archdiocese of Newark, the Lepanto Institute reported.
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Tobin has done nothing to change the radio station, although he knew about it and had the authority to do so, the Lepanto Institute said.
On its website, the Lepanto Institute shows a representative sample of music played on the station, which includes lyrics like “We love your virgin blood / Death is our drug / Shadows, we hunt the streets / High on your screams” and “Can we still be saved? / Hell no! / Does your God hold a place for us? / Hell no! / Is there time to repent? / Hell no! / Will we rise from the dead? / Hell no! / Can these sins even be forgiven? / Hell no!”
The music videos for many of WSOU’s songs include nudity, satanic imagery, spellcasting symbols, and calls to worship Satan.
WSOU’s website includes a list of core values that include “Inclusiveness,” “Support of and respect for the Catholic mission of [the] Archdiocese of Newark” and “Inclusiveness.” The site also said its target audience included 12-year-olds.
“WSOU is committed to strengthening Seton Hall’s Catholic and academic identity, developing a culture of engagement and service, and meeting the experiential educational and cultural needs of the campus and the community at large,” the website said.
Over 725 people have signed a petition demanding that Tobin shut down the radio station.
“Previous attempts to mitigate the satanic programming of WSOU took place in 1988 and 2001, but were completely ineffective and short-lived, which is why it is so important to call for an immediate end to the radio station altogether,” the petition reads.
Tobin, who has led the diocese since 2017, was Theodore McCarrick’s replacement.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò said in a written statement in August 2018 that Tobin was appointed to his position on the advice of McCarrick to the pope directly, circumventing the process of appointing Church leaders.
McCarrick was appointed to the diocese in 1986 and was stripped of his office by Pope Francis in 2018 following accusations that he ran a sex ring and had sexually abused young boys decades ago. At the time, Viganò criticized the pontiff and all others involved in covering up McCarrick's abuses, urging them to resign.
According to the petition, Seton Hall responded to hundreds of complaints calling for the station to be shut down, saying in a letter: “Every song that WSOU plays must meet strict FCC standards for content. In addition, its music must meet even stricter University standards for content.”
The Christian Post reached out to the diocese, the university, and the radio station but did not receive comment by press time.
A year ago, Seton Hall responded to the Lepanto Institute's report. The school called it “misinformation” and said, “Everything that airs on WSOU is ‘clean,’ meaning songs are edited to remove offensive lyrics.”
On Sept. 26, WSOU broadcasted the song “Inherit the Earth” by band Burn the Priest. Its lyrics include “Evil reigns supreme / Gather demon clans / By the light of the moon.”
