Posted on 10/30/2009 11:39:37 AM PDT by Steelfish
Vatican Condemns Hallowe'en As Anti-Christian
The Vatican has condemned Hallowe'en as anti-Christian, saying it is based on a sinister and dangerous "undercurrent of occultism".
By Nick Squires in Rome 30 Oct 2009
The Roman Catholic Church has become alarmed in recent years by the spread of Hallowe'en traditions from the US to other countries around the world. The Holy See has warned that parents should not allow their children to dress up as ghosts and ghouls on Saturday, calling Hallowe'en a pagan celebration of "terror, fear and death".
The Roman Catholic Church has become alarmed in recent years by the spread of Hallowe'en traditions from the US to other countries around the world.
The Vatican issued the warning through its official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, in an article headlined "Hallowe'en's Dangerous Messages". The paper quoted a liturgical expert, Joan Maria Canals, who said: "Hallowe'en has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian."
Parents should "be aware of this and try to direct the meaning of the feast towards wholesomeness and beauty rather than terror, fear and death," said Father Canals, a member of a Spanish commission on church rites. Last year a newspaper controlled by the Italian bishops, Avvenire, called for a boycott of Hallowe'en, calling it a "dangerous celebration of horror and the macabre" which could encourage "pitiless [Satanic] sects without scruples".
Earlier this week the Catholic Church in Spain also condemned the growing popularity of Halloween, saying it threatened to overshadow the Christian festival of All Saints' Day.
The Bishop of Siguenza-Guadalajara, Jose Sanchez, said there was a risk that Halloween could "replace Christian customs like devotion to saints and praying for the dead."
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
We used to have Halloween Carnivals at my Catholic School every year and even wore Halloween custumes, all with the blessing of the Nuns and Priests.
The Anglican church of my youth celebrated Oct 31 as “All Hallows Eve”, and Nov 1st as “All Saints Day”.
In my humble opinion, we all should encourage our children to do this. I have always disliked Halloween.
The only proper response is to pat the little egghead that came with this on his head tell him he did a good job and send him on his way.
I have a much bigger issue with my kids celebrating harry hay day...
they need to quit worrying about jack-o-lanterns and START GETTING UPSET OVER THE PROSPECT OF TAXPAYER-FUNDED ABORTIONS FOR ALL IN THE UNITED STATES UNDER HEALTH CARE REFORM!!!
(see above thread)
Nowadays, they are produced by Professionals, and they glorify Fear, Terror and Death.
Where I live the majority are done as a fund raiser for the local Volunteer Fire Companies. The only "professionals" doing them are the volunteers who have "perfected" them through years of trial and error.
And they're still fun!!!
Aw Jeez.
Ahh the irony of telling children never to take candy from strangers (552,000 search results for “don’t take candy from strangers” from google) and then this one night of the year, dressing them up and sending them out to knock on strangers doors and ask for candy.
BTTT
However, in order to feed their anti-Catholic prejudices, many will take this headline as the true view of the Pope.
(psssst...consider the source, people—I thought FReepers were better than this)
I thought it was originally “All Saints Eve” where those saints who weren’t honored were honored on that day ...but then paganism worked its way into it ....
The intent of Hallowe’en in my OPINION is to “laugh at the devil” on the day before All Saint’s Day. Maybe that’s improper, but I hardly see how it’s anti-Christian.
Now, a few folks — I doubt they are Christians in the first place — truly get into the spirit of “Yay, Evil!”, but that’s the exception.
There's no scientific polling.
“Thirty or so years ago, Haunted Houses were scary, but fun, and usually benefitted some local philanthropic institution.
Nowadays, they are produced by Professionals, and they glorify Fear, Terror and Death.”
I’ve noticed the local amusement park (Canada’s Wonderland) advertising their big Halloween do with characters who talk about how they’re going to “descrate the park with blood and gore” and so on. When did Halloween become a celbration of things that you used to only find in stupid horror flicks (the attractions of which have always eluded me)?
We do it at my Catholic church. Which is SUPER old-school and does only the Latin Mass.
All the kids dress as saints. Problem solved.
As for this article, the criticism of the Osservatore Romano is right....anyone who doesn't see something seriously wrong with these idiots carrying around bloody chainsaws and dressing up like psychotic murderers with needs their head examined.
Dressing up as Superman and Frankenstein is harmless. But this sick fetishism with death is a symptom of a demented society.
Years ago, I would have thought this was silly. But ever since Halloween got taken over by adults, particularly gays, it’s gotten worse and worse. In many areas, Halloween is the biggest “gay day” there is, and no costume is too gross.
Also, the graphic horror movies and other things have really made it way beyond just a silly scary thing for kids.
There is a “haunted house” in my small town that was advertising something that looked like gay porn, actually, where visitors to the house could let themselves be tied to a table in some kind of a harness; the photo was extremely suggestive. What happened to wearing a sheet with eyeholes in it and jumping out from behind a bush saying “boo?”
So I think the Vatican may be right on this one.
The History Halloween
http://www.halloween-website.com/history.htm
Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago.
All Hallows Eve is the evening before All Saints Day, which was created by Christians to convert pagans, and is celebrated on November 1st. The Catholic church honored saints on this designated day.
The Origin of Halloween
While there are many versions of the origins and old customs of Halloween, some remain consistent by all accounts. Different cultures view Holloween somewhat differently but traditional Halloween practices remain the same.
Halloween culture can be traced back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe. Roots lay in the feast of Samhain, which was annually on October 31st to honor the dead.
Samhain signifies “summers end” or November. Samhain was a harvest festival with huge sacred bonfires, marking the end of the Celtic year and beginning of a new one. Many of the practices involved in this celebration were fed on superstition.
The Celts believed the souls of the dead roamed the streets and villages at night. Since not all spirits were thought to be friendly, gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil and ensure next years crops would be plentiful. This custom evolved into trick-or-treating.
Exactly. We have one in our town...friends dragged me to it one year. It was a disgusting freak show....fake blood, severed limbs, psychotic imagery.
Whatever happened to a guy in a dracula costume and plastic teeth jumping out from behind a wall?
Halloween was a fun holiday but really has become degenerate like so much else in our society.
I will be handing out candy on halloween, oohing and ahhhing at the most adorable little ones costumes (my newborn niece is going as a chicken this year. Too cute!) my other neice is going as a pokemon character, last year she was the rat from ratitoullie SP?
The next day, I will be Eucharistic Adoration for a 40 hours (a real one, all through the night).
I have no ghoulish decorations, mostly carved pumpkins (looking forward to the pie and toasted pumpkin seeds mmmmm) and then everything comes down and the fall harvest stuff left up til the day after thanksgiving. Black friday, no shopping for me, I will be turning my house into a winter wonderland (well, as wintery as one can get in S FL.)
Same as always........
This Traditional Roman Catholic is happily carving his “pagan” pumpkin right now! I think I’ll carve one as Father Jenkins of Notre Dame & Obama holding hands.Now that’s SCARY! I like the idea of dressing as the Pope! But just for Halloween mind you.Happy Halloween! :)
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