Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct 31, 2008 / 14:00 pm
Archbishop Hector Aguer of La Plata in Argentina said this week that the pagan feast of Halloween is “foreign to Christian tradition” and has become a “superstitious and empty way of imposing mindless triviality.”
In a commentary entitled, “Halloween is a strange feast,” the archbishop said the day has its origin in the Celtic New Year which celebrated the return of the spirits of the dead to their homes. Given this background, the archbishop asked, “Do those who adopt this way of in reality celebrating death, the devil and Hell have a conscience?” “Most of those who adopt this observance are probably ignorant of what they are doing and why they are doing it,” the archbishop stated.
He noted that the observance of Halloween is mixed with Christian festivities whose meanings are totally contrary to Halloween. “On November 1, we celebrate a liturgical feast that is a fundamental truth of our faith, which we profess when we say, ‘I believe in the communion of saints.’ On November 2, we make visits to the cemetery as a religious and profoundly human gesture, inspired by the hope in the resurrection.”
“Nothing could be further from the empty and superstitious way that this mindless triviality is imposed,” he added.
The archbishop encouraged Christians to celebrate the Christians truths of these days with renewed faith as a “response to the real concerns of mankind today.”