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 ...
South of the border, the Day of the Dead is a big deal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead
Wiki: “The celebration occurs on November 1st and 2nd in connection with the Catholic holiday of All Saints’ Day which occurs on November 1st and All Souls’ Day which occurs on November 2nd. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.”
The Catholic school near me celebrates All Saints Day by having the kids pick and dress up as their favorite saint. That’s a positive way to celebrate a wonderful feast day I think.
Exactly.
The Vatican couldn’t have provided a better explanation why this event has been paganized beyond the revolt of the senses.
I didn't read the original article in the Osservatore, but I think they would agree with you. I don't know any Catholic that has a problem with little Mary dressing up as a princess. It's not the little kids in the holiday that are the problem, it's the teens and adults who are turning it into this sick death cult.
should have typed (with OUR parents), not without. Everybody had a great time. I just remember all the laughter, all the smiles as neighbors recognized each other. Candy was plenteous, love was more so.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=USP00p2
True, it's CNN, so consider the source.
To paraphrase H.L. Mencken, it seems the Catholic Church has adopted the Puritan policy being fearful that someone, somewhere, might be having a good time.
This kind of thing along with the Anti-Harry Potter statements makes it seem that the Catholic Church is overreaching on the small things and not vigilant on the bigger things..
Tomorrow afternoon and evening, I will be attending an All Hallows Eve party at a local Catholic high school. There will be about 100 people also in attendance, most of whom will be children.
The children will dress as saints, and they will have prepared clues as to which saint they’ve chosen to portray. When someone asks them who they are, the kids will answer with a clue: “I was at the Last Supper,” or “I wrote one of the Gospels,” or “Our Lord entrusted the care of Our Blessed Mother to me.”
Of course, this would mean that the saint in question is Saint John the Evangelist, and the person who guesses it wins a prize of a small religious trinket, such as a bookmark with a cross on it.
There will be games like “fishing for donuts,” which is played by hanging a donut from a string, blindfolding the player, and having him try to catch the donut in his teeth without using his hands.
There will be pumpkin carving, for the jack o’lantern is to remind us of a recurring theme of the party: “Our bodies may die, but our souls are eternal.” The jack o’lantern itself symbolizes our bodies which will corrode into dust, and the candle we put inside it represents the Light of Christ in our souls.
The children will go around and beg for “soul cakes,” which are either those little religious trinkets or candy. The people handing out the treats will ask the children to do something in order to get one: the younger ones may be asked to say a Hail Mary, or something similar. The older ones may be asked to sing a song, or recite a longer prayer, sometimes in Latin. The altar boys will definitely be asked to recite some of the responses required of them in order to serve the Latin Mass.
The party will culminate with Benediction and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament (no Mass because everyone will have eaten already). After Benediction, the children dressed as saints will join with the priest and the altar boys in a procession around the church.
I hope this gives you some ideas for your children, Steelfish...
Regards,
I have always seen at taking the the pagan’s holidays away from them. Its evidence of the Church’s victory.
Karloff, the King of early American Horror. Watching it now, on a beatiful rainy Fall day.
Here in Charlotte the local amusement park Carowinds changes there name to Scarowinds for October. Lots of actors dressed as every kind of goul. It can be quite scarry even for an adult and they do not permit young children in.
There was a time when I would have agreed with you, but the fact that evil has triumphed to such an extent all around us makes the joke hit just a little too close to home these days. I don’t participate in the tradition. My house will be DARK except for the security light. And if possible I will not be home.
Yes. I would think that the country being taken over by Marxists is of greater importance than if a 7 year old puts on an Iron Man costume and goes trick-or-treating.
So now they’re supposed to bless and support them? This is a pagan spinoff festival from All Saints. I always like All Saints because it is like the kickoff day for the Church Season. Halloween, bah. Humbug.
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