Fr. Leszek Gęsiak, a Jesuit who is spokesman for the Polish Bishops' Conference, the central authority of the Catholic Church in Poland, made the statement in an interview with Polish state news agency PAP on Monday.
‘Halloween is a celebration of horror and demons’
Gęsiak said: “Halloween is a celebration of horror and demons, something very far removed from what the Catholic Church celebrates during All Saints' Day on November 1.”
He added: “And so Christians should rather concentrate on honouring the good that the saints, both those who have been canonised and beatified, and ordinary people, have brought to the Church over the centuries, by demonstrating God’s goodness through their lives.”
Gęsiak went on to say: “Celebrating Halloween is difficult to reconcile with the essence of the solemnity of All Saints' Day. You can’t on the one hand glorify demons, and on the other believe that it is worthwhile to follow the example of the saints.”
‘Promotion of death, ugliness and evil’
Gęsiak said that for these reasons, “seemingly innocent” Halloween events posed "a real danger for the children," adding that “if a kindergarten or school holds a Halloween celebration, the parents are entitled to propose an alternative.”
He told the PAP news agency that many parishes and schools offered such alternatives to Halloween by organising "Saints' Balls," where he said the children are encouraged to dress as saints and angels, and which “have nothing to do with the grotesque fun based on the promotion of death, ugliness and evil.”
“We, as Christians, should promote the good things,” Gęsiak said.
He argued that Halloween “is rooted in Celtic beliefs and originates from old pagan practices,” and so it is “alien to Christianity” and “culturally alien to Polish people,” as cited by the PAP news agency.
He stressed: “It’s a tradition of the English-speaking countries and so if we have good traditions of our own, we would do well to cultivate them and emphasise what is enriching about them.”
Catholic alternatives to Halloween
Meanwhile, special "Saints' Balls" and "Saints' Processions" were set to take place around Poland on Monday as Catholic alternatives to Halloween events, the tvp.info website reported.
The faithful were set to gather, often dressed as their favourite saints, at Warsaw's Temple of Divine Providence, in the Łódź Basilica in central Poland and in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the southeastern city of Kielce, among other venues.
Meanwhile, Catholic charity Luce was set to hold a roller-skating event for children, youth and families, called Holy Wins, in the southern city of Bielsko-Biała, according to tvp.info.
Holy Wins is also the name of a "Procession of the Saints" that was due to be held as part of Catholic events to rival Halloween in the southwestern town of Wołów, reporters were told.
Trick or treat
Halloween is one of the most popular celebrations in America and other English-speaking countries. It is held annually on October 31, and one of its central activities is trick-or-treating whereby children, often dressed as monsters, vampires or skeletons, go from house to house, asking for treats such as sweets.
Other characteristic activities include carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, attending costume parties and playing pranks.
The celebration is based on a Celtic belief that on October 31 the souls of the dead left their graves and wandered around the Earth in search of living bodies to possess. People began to don repulsive masks and macabre costumes to deter evil spirits, the PAP news agency reported.
Poles traditionally visit cemeteries to honour their deceased relatives and friends on All Saints' Day on November 1 and All Souls' Day on November 2.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, tvp.info