Halloween undermines eternal truths of Christian faith, says Argentinean bishop

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Comments: 8

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct 30, 2006 / 12:00 am (CNA).- In all letter to the faithful of his diocese, Bishop Rinaldo Fidel Bredice of Santa Rosa said the pagan feast of Halloween undermines the eternal truths of the Christian faith, and he exhorted Catholics to celebrate worthily the feasts of All Saints and November 1 and of All Souls on November 2.

“The preaching of the truth is our weapon: let us take advantage of the Feast of All Saints and the Memorial of All Souls to proclaim the four last things: death, judgment, hell, and heaven,” Bishop Bredice explained.

“Let us be encouraged to carry out the work of mercy of ‘praying for the dead’ (through personal prayer, the recitation of the Holy Rosary, holy hours offered in reparation, and most importantly, the Holy Mass), to visit their tombs in order to honor our roots and become aware of the temporariness of our lives on this earth. Thus we will be enlightening our brothers and sisters in the faith and all men and women of good will,” the bishop stated.

Lastly, Bishop Bredice included an “attachment about Halloween in order to point out the errors and to be able to explain the truth.” The bishop asked Catholics in Buenos Aires to spread his message to others “so that many others can discern and not observe this pagan feast.”

Comments: 8

Subscriber comments:

Published by: G. De Feo
Brooklyn, NY, USA 10/31/2006 07:10 PM EST

Unfortunately, movies and video games have become so elaborate in their special effects portrayals that it's as if we have Halloween all year. These exalt the human ego so much that even grown men want to look and behave like the characters in these media--hardly people who will want to remind themselves even for one day out of the year of their own mortality.

Published by: Veronica Salazar
USA 10/31/2006 12:04 PM EST

I see Halloween celebration as part of the culture of death that is on the rise around the world. Instead of exalting virtues, good manners, good examples, we are exalting evil spirits, ghosts, monsters, vampires, etc. I don't criticize that children can have fun wearing customes, but the true meaning of this feast is what really worries me. Our Lord came, suffered, died in a horrible manner and resurrected defeating death, and here we are, exalting death and all the horrible things that a human being can be (serial killers, assassins, harlots)... that's crazy! I think bishop Fidel did good alerting his flock on this issue. He is a pastor and he will need to give account to Our Lord of what he did to preserve the sheeps entrusted to his care. Nothing is too excessive when what's been put in jeopardy is the salvation of the souls.

Published by: Andrew
Los Angeles, CA 10/31/2006 11:27 AM EST

Bishop Bredice will be criticized, ostracized, villified for speaking the truth. Let the secular world and the minions of the devil in this world do that. But to those bishops, priests, pastors and all who preach, adhere and follow the eternal truths of Jesus Christ will be greatly rewarded in heaven. Come! My good and faithful servant, share with Me in the joy of heaven.

Published by: Frances Marie
USA 10/31/2006 08:46 AM EST

The Bishop speaks of Eternal Truths and secular Haloween is playing with evil. The Bishops must warn about delving into evil. Look around, evil is on the rise and we see it everyday in our newspapers.

Published by: Antonio Mendez
Argentina 10/30/2006 09:34 PM EST

Msr. Bredice is the faithful Bishop of Santa Rosa, Province of La Pampa (not Buenos Aires, as it was wrongly informed). I fully agree with this good Bishop; Catholics should keep away from "halloween". Though halloween may look funny and folcloric, it has its roots in the cult of Satan.

Published by: Matt
New York 10/30/2006 08:04 PM EST

Mike,

It is a recurrence of a pagan belief, one that worships through occultic ways. Granted children obviously do not know the gravity of it and will not either, but the celebration of this more than the emphasis to chlidren on All Saints Day or All Souls Day IS paganism. A fun day for children is good, but they should be tought to focus on the Feast Days following it. Hopefully this helps the ignorance on the matter.

Published by: Kathleen Griffin
Bronx, NY 10/30/2006 01:39 PM EST

Bishop Bredice sounds more like a Jehovah's Witness than a Catholic. Samhain is a pagan Celtic festival marking the shorter autumn days, and remembering the loved dead. For over a millenium it has been Christianized as the vigil of All Saints and natural lead-in to All Souls, both remembering the loved dead. Now if he wanted to protest unreasonable extravagance in costumes, parties, and media hype, he'd make a little sense! But then he'd need to critique ALL secular celebration of religious holy days.

Published by: Mike McCaffrey
Yarmouthport, MA 02675 10/30/2006 11:39 AM EST

The foolishness of Halloween does not deserve the criticism of a church prelate. Is the Easter bunny next? Maybe Fox News could launch a "War on Halloween."

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