Vatican: Halloween is anti-Christian

Pope Adult Costume - Costumes this would have to increase your intake of candy in a catholic neighborhood

Vatican warns parents that Halloween is 'anti-Christian' - The Vatican is warning parents not to let their kids dress up as ghosts and goblins this weekend for Halloween, calling it a pagan celebration of "terror, fear and death," Britain's Daily Telegraph reports in a dispatch from Rome.

The newspaper's Rome correspondent, Nick Squires, notes that the Roman Catholic Church has become alarmed in recent years as the traditional U.S. celebration spreads to other countries, particularly Britain and Italy.

The Vatican issued its warning through its official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, in an article headlined "Halloween's Dangerous Messages."

It quotes a liturgical expert, Joan Maria Canals as saying, "Halloween has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian." .....I find this poignantly ironic.

When you think about it, any belief system besides Christianity goes against Christianity and is in a sense anti-Christian. Furthermore all religions are steeped in occultism.

Pope Adult Costume - Costumes this would have to increase your intake of candy in a catholic neighborhood

He's wearing sneakers.

Pope Adult Costume - Costumes this would have to increase your intake of candy in a catholic neighborhood

And scare the hell out of little boys!

Grown ups have a way of spoiling fun for kids! IF you were to ask kids what Halloween is all about they would say dressing up and pretending for a night and of course CANDY! That's it. If we want to get all freaked out and call pagan on Halloween then we could easily freak about the ties between paganism and Christianity and especially Christmas. If the Pope recognized those ties then there'd be no celebration with trees or even the actual date itself! Me thinks he won't do dat!

Christmas' pagan origins

Anyway, for those of you going out to celebrate have fun and stay warm and safe!

G

Vatican warns parents that Halloween is 'anti-Christian' - The Vatican is warning parents not to let their kids dress up as ghosts and goblins this weekend for Halloween, calling it a pagan celebration of "terror, fear and death," Britain's Daily Telegraph reports in a dispatch from Rome.

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I thought those were some of the basic tennants of the Catholic Church?

I guess this is a big deal if you are a Catholic.

Funny, I attended catholic school for 12 years (13 if you count kindergarten) and every year my school had the BEST haunted house fundraiser. But that was both long ago and in New Orleans. . . .

No one knows for sure if that is the sentiment of the Vatican. The newspaper L'Osservatore Romano is a "semi"-Vatican paper and some of the articles are opinion pieces and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Pope or any Vatican Clergyman. It's all ambiguous at best. It's like taking apart the words of a staffer who works for someone who works for somebody in the Obama Administration. Also, the new Editor of the Newspaper is known to have a flair for the dramatic. If you want to hear the Popes stance, the Vatican has a web site and lists all His writings.

That being said, I was shocked when my sister moved from Holland to the South and my nephew, who was pre-school at that time, was not allowed to wear his Halloween, Batman-- defender of crime, costume to school. :roll:

Although, I have to admit, I like the idea of Halloween being a celebration of life and all things magical vs. a spooky day.

It's this sort of nonsense that has made me a recovering Catholic.

I have known of a parent or two in our own community who oppose Halloween due to religious reasons. I guess this is okay for them (poor kids!). we all grew up having such fun as vampires and ghouls and witches and ghosts. it had nothing whatsoever to do with religion. those are some of the best times in a child's life - dressing up and having some fun. I am glad people are doing a lot of family oriented Halloween parties, trick or trunk, etc. But, to me halloween is all about spooky stuff! Leave us zombies alone! If you don't like the traditional ghouly halloween, then just don't participate!

Halloween is one of the oldest holidays and is a mixture of many beliefs and many traditions.. at some point the Catholic Church attempted to change the pagan holiday to a christian one, replacing tradition with All Saints Day, and All Hallows Eve, Day of the Dead. So, the Christian version of All Hallow's Eve, or Halloween is still celebrated throughout the world. However, Halloween remains secular holiday celebrated by anyone and everyone in communities and nations around the world - it doesn't mean its a pagan holiday (though maybe it is for some). Some Christians may believe that the spooky part of Halloween conflicts with the religious part. That is just too narrow minded for me. Any and all traditions related to Halloween, religious and non-religious, are all relevant today. Must we choose one tradition? I do not think so.

History.com has some good info on the history of Halloween. I love to visit this site!
Halloween Around the World
Halloween Comes to America


a wonderful book for adults and children to read together, and learn about Halloween traditions and cultures around the world. its a great fun spooky bizarre adventure...

Yes, there are people who oppose Halloween because they feel it is anti-Christian because it involves witches, spirits, etc. There are also people who want to ban Harry Potter books from school libraries for the same reasons.

All I know is that Halloween (at least how I choose to celebrate it) is a wonderful non-religious and inclusive holiday that celebrates family, friends, creativity, humor, and bringing smiles to people's faces.

Funny, I attended catholic school for 12 years (13 if you count kindergarten) and every year my school had the BEST haunted house fundraiser. But that was both long ago and in New Orleans. . . .

LOL I was thinking same thing - some of the best carnivals and fun times were at Catholic Church fundraisers. I wasn't raised a Catholic but I could not wait to go to them.

G

If you want to have the scariest costume dress as a Christian.

If you want to have the scariest costume dress as a Christian.

Describe that costume please.

Describe that costume please.

He'd have bloody lion bites and claw marks all over his body.

He'd have bloody lion bites and claw marks all over his body.

Ouch

Ouch

Yeah, but you should see what the lion looks like!

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Our Catholic church turns the church basement, including elevator, into a haunted (but not too scary) house for the kids so they don't have to go door-to-door. Our teens get volunteer credit for manning the haunted house. Gee, I don't know if they did away with it this year or not?! Now I'm wondering, because I don't recall any mention of it this year. I hope not!

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I saw the Pope dancing with a witch at a party just last night!

G

well, some catholics and/or other christians may not approve of halloween, but these are not the catholics I have known all my life. the average catholic is the coolest, partyingness, dancingness,, funnest people I know who can sin with the best of 'em. just about any excuse for a funn celebration works for us.

I've known some who have their children dress up as Bible characters.

I say, "Live and Let Live." Halloween is funn, although I sat down last night waiting for friends and there was this couple not dressed up who proceeded to have a nasty spat and he asked her (or rather told her) they were getting a divorce. I was somewhat relieved when they left. That was some bayd juju

Other than that, I was in a cult last night for certain~~~~~~and, it was big funn! One topic that was funn: is it better to be bonafide crazy or certifiable?

If you want to have the scariest costume dress as a Christian.

I do every single day......

I do every single day......