By Dustin Gardiner | The Arizona Republic
Phoenix City Council members voted 7-2 Wednesday night to restore a spoken prayer at council meetings, but the invocation would have to be given exclusively by chaplains for the police and fire departments.
That vote is the latest twist in a fiery debate that began after a group of Satanists were scheduled to give the opening prayer at a council meeting in February.
Rather than let followers of the Satanic Temple pray, the council voted last month to replace the invocation with a “moment of silent prayer and reflection.” City leaders said Phoenix would have faced a costly lawsuit if it kept holding a prayer and rejected the Satanist’s request to pray, as some council members advocated.
