Madrid, Spain, Oct 30, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).
Father Javier Ortega, a priest of the Diocese of Alcalá de Henares in Spain, said that costumes of demons, witches, and the dead that are usually worn for Halloween are not recommended because “you are in some way tempting the devil.”
In a recent interview published by the diocese on its website, Ortega asked parents to not allow their children to participate in these celebrations and, if they do, “to dress up as saints or in costumes of beautiful and lovely things.”
Don’t let them “dress up as demons, dress up as witches, or dress up as dead people,” he said, “because in some way you are opening doors, you are in some way tempting the devil… In other words, it’s not something neutral.”
The priest also pointed out that behind the pagan festival of Halloween “there is the influence of evil.” In fact, he said that this is “the biggest day” for satanists. It’s a celebration that “has nothing to do, of course, with what the Christian faith is” and in which, he lamented, “we are being a bit complicit.”
“When you play with fire you can get burned, that’s clear; it’s not that you always get burned, but you can get burned. When you play with spirits, with elements of esotericism or occultism you are opening doors to the evil one,” he warned.
The priest also warned that the evil one “also makes use of ignorance and naïveté” and, although children are often unaware of this background, “in some way they are participating in a festival that has nothing good to do with it.”
“If you drink poison, even if you don’t know it, you are poisoning yourself,” he added.
Ortega also pointed out the danger behind esoteric or other types of practices such as Ouija, Reiki, New Age, or “yoga at certain levels” because, he added, “deep down you are invoking the evil one, you are pressing your luck.”
Cultivate beauty to combat Halloween
The priest reminded that “beauty will save the world” and that it’s very important to educate children in beauty: “We must care for children’s imagination, so that they have beautiful and lovely things in their imagination.”
He thus recommended that there shouldn’t be “ugly pictures” in the children’s rooms but images of the Virgin, the guardian angel, and “that children be blessed every night, that they hear words of blessing, words from heaven, words of hope.”
“We live in a world that is very harmful to children, where there are ugly things and things that truly attack purity of heart, the innocence of children… So we must fight against this with all our might,” he said.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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Fr Ortega’s point is valid. I mentioned elsewhere Ouija [boards] crystals, channeling of the dead, crystal balls, talismans are prohibited [condemnable] by the Church because they’re an entree to the daemonic.
When the two little Navajo girls and Mother knocked on my door that Halloween mentioned in my comment on Rachel Hoover’s ‘In defense of trick-or-treating’ they weren’t costumed. They were dressed in ordinary Navajo attire, made no demand, simply said Happy Halloween.
There’s the other side, some validly referencing the Christian dimension of the eve of All Saints day as a Christian celebration, that kids engage in innocent fun. If contained as such it seems fine, otherwise the celebration has deteriorated with a closer association with dark spirituality and the daemonic. Parents have a responsibility to instill a healthier religious sense of the meaning of Halloween.
Since it’s Halloween theological pastoral exploration from a traditionally Catholic perspective [one seems to have a number of options these days as to what Catholicism actually is, although the Synod is apparently making a wider, continuous effort at resolution – this writer will stay with the Apostles] should be propitious.
The reader if he hasn’t already should read Begone Satan, now popularized by Amazon, the 1928 account of exorcist Fr Theophilus Riesinger OFM Cap in Earling Iowa then Diocese of St Cloud now Diocese of Des Moines. The possessed young woman was the victim of her own father and his mistress who are alleged to have arranged her possession. Her father’s hate that she wouldn’t commit incest with her father.
At that time and years after the woman and family lived in the Ridgewood section of Brooklyn NY, she, sent by the Diocese of Brooklyn to Iowa to preserve anonymity. Following the woman’s temporary release from Satan [she was periodically possessed by the Demon] Fr Riesinger requested that Msgr Francis Cassano residing in Brooklyn advise and monitor her condition. Msgr Cassano was my spiritual director until his death. All the parties involved in that terrifying event are deceased.
Msgr Cassano was situated to confirm the bizarre events that are described in the original account written by Fr Vogel. For those of us who haven’t had personal experience some of those events may help us realize the dangers of the occult, the penalty for sin. During the exorcism the young woman’s father apparently made himself known as one as the actual participants in her possession. Along with his mistress who concocted the means, a satanic ritual for her possession while they were all living. At his death her father sarcastically refused the attendant priest’s anointing. This he revealed during the exorcism. His mistress was also present, stating that her condemnation was due to her killing ‘little ones’, apparently abortions or worse.
When confronted with such evil at home so to speak rituals, Pachamamma worship, perhaps jokingly feigned when her effigy was regaled with dance and smiling cardinals singing into the sanctuary of St Peter’s, the serious Vatican Lawn worship by prostrating religious is taken more seriously. The ease since with which homosexuality has been introduced into the Church and discussed in terms of approbation – as if that practice has nothing to do with the transgender abomination, and the avocation of new horizons during a Synod that continues to suggest that what’s occurring mimics the increasingly darker manifestations of Halloween.
What separates the Earling Iowa exorcism by Fr Riesinger was its length, 23 days, whereas most complete within 1 to 3 days. And the presumed presence of Judas, and Satan. The young woman, noted for piety and innocence. The satanic seemed to make this case a battleground for victory against Christ’s Church. Perhaps it’s banal for some. Although it serves as a stimulant at an exceptional time when we’re being slowly numbed to the bizarre and unholy.
When would we previous to 2013 virtually take in stride that being rigorous regarding doctrine is sinful? That, alleged by a Roman pontiff. When would discussions about a Synodal Mass, an Amazonia Mass be discussed when the traditional Latin Mass is prohibited? It seems in context that the Devil’s efforts to challenge the Church, indeed to exert his influence within has met with success.