Rome Newsroom, Dec 13, 2021 / 13:08 pm
“The latest Grinch of December 25th” who, “from the pulpit,” has erased the “dreams and magic in the hearts of children.”
This is how Italian media described Bishop Antonio Staglianò after he told a group of children that Santa Claus did not exist, sparking a week of backlash from parents to international media.
“He has seen fit to tear through the veil of illusion that every child tenaciously holds over his eyes for the longest time possible in order to continue to believe in a dream,” one national newspaper said.
The Catholic bishop leads the Diocese of Noto on the Italian island region of Sicily. His comments about Santa Claus, called “Babbo Natale” in Italian, were made to families in the Basilica del Santissimo Salvatore on Dec. 6, the feast of St. Nicholas of Myra.