March Madness was in full swing at the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) men’s tournament March 12-16 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. The Episcopalian clergy at the Washington National Cathedral were included in the event, after the ACC reached out about having the mascots visit the cathedral. “The ACC reached out about coming to the cathedral, and we immediately said yes,” said Kevin Eckstrom, the cathedral’s chief public affairs officer. The mascots of the schools typically visit well-known sites and the ACC chose the National Cathedral for one of its stops. Two clergy from the cathedral, Provost Jan Naylor Cope and Vicar Dana Corsello, offered blessings to the mascots, with 7 of the 15 taking them up on the offer. Eckstrom said the clergy, “prayed for safety, good sportsmanship and fun at the tournament.” On the Cathedral’s blog, Eckstrom joked about the disparate mascot attendees. “We’re happy to report that the (Baptist) Demon Deacon from Wake Forest, the (Roman Catholic) Fighting Irish Leprechaun from Notre Dame and even the Blue Devil from Duke all felt right at home inside this Episcopal Cathedral,” he wrote. Mascots that visited the cathedral were representing Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

Video of the event shows the mascots playfully roaming the cathedral and a group being splashed with holy water by the clergy. News reporters joked about the cathedral being “inclusive” with whom it invited in. Responses on social media to the video were somewhat mixed. “‘America has no culture’ explain this,” wrote Katherine Jeanes of the Democrat Youth Council. Some users requested extra blessings for their teams, while others joked about the devils and demons being blessed. “No amount of blessings can help that clemson tiger lord,” joked another user. One user was less than impressed. “Priestesses blessing devil mascots in the ‘National Cathedral’ is a sign of the times,” he wrote.