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\nSt. Peter\u2019s Basilica<\/p>\n
\nSt. Peter\u2019s Basilica<\/p>\n
COGwriter<\/a><\/p>\n While we in the Living Church of God <\/a>have always condemned Halloween as a pagan, non-Christian, holiday, the Vatican has been hesitant in the past to do so.\u00a0 But now the Vatican is taking a position closer to LCG:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Holy See has warned that parents should not allow their children to dress up as ghosts and ghouls on Saturday, calling Hallowe’en a pagan celebration of “terror, fear and death”.<\/span><\/p>\n The Roman Catholic Church has become alarmed in recent years by the spread of Hallowe’en traditions from the US to other countries around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n As in Britain, it is only in recent years that Italian children have dressed up in costumes, played trick or treat on their neighbours and made lanterns out of hollowed out pumpkins.<\/span><\/p>\n The Vatican issued the warning through its official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano<\/em>, in an article headlined “Hallowe’en’s Dangerous Messages”.<\/span><\/p>\n The paper quoted a liturgical expert, Joan Maria Canals, who said: “Hallowe’en has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian.”<\/span><\/p>\n Parents should “be aware of this and try to direct the meaning of the feast towards wholesomeness and beauty rather than terror, fear and death,” said Father Canals, a member of a Spanish commission on church rites.<\/span><\/p>\n Last year a newspaper controlled by the Italian bishops, Avvenire<\/em>, called for a boycott of Hallowe’en, calling it a “dangerous celebration of horror and the macabre” which could encourage “pitiless [Satanic] sects without scruples”.<\/span><\/p>\nVatican condemns Hallowe’en as anti-Christian <\/strong><\/span><\/div>\nThe Vatican has condemned Hallowe’en as anti-Christian, saying it is based on a sinister and dangerous “undercurrent of occultism”. <\/strong><\/span><\/div>\nTelegraph <\/strong>– Oct 30, 2009<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n