Halloween Article 2
The Vatican attempted to put a brake on the growing popularity of Halloween yesterday, branding it anti-Christian and dangerous.
The condemnation follows criticism from Catholic bishops who this week urged parents not to let their children dress up as ghosts and goblins.
The Vatican spoke out on the eve of tonight’s ritual which falls before the significant Catholic holy day of All Saints.
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI, pictured in the Vatican, has slammed Halloween as ‘dangerous’
Halloween is largely a secular celebration which has its origins in an ancient festival marking the start of the ‘darker half of the year’.
But in an article entitled The Dangerous Messages of Halloween, the Vatican’s official newspaper L’Osservatore Romano quoted liturgical expert Joan Maria Canals as saying: ‘Halloween has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian.’
Father Canals urged parents ‘to be aware of this and try to direct the meaning of the feast towards wholesomeness and beauty rather than terror, fear and death’.