Spanish bishop forbids Halloween after branding it a 'satanic festival'
There will be no trick or treating for children in one corner of southern Spain this weekend, after the Bishop of Cádiz banned Halloween parties, calling the popular holiday a "satanic festival".
The Bishop of Cádiz has forced religious organizations in the city to cancel planned Halloween events for children.
Bishop Juan Enrique Sánchez, who is responsible for the city’s cofradías - religious brotherhoods - has forbidden the celebration of Halloween, calling it a "satanic festival".
Groups in the city had been planning Halloween parties to raise money for charity, but Bishop Sánchez has put the brakes on the plans, according to local newspaper, Diario de Cádiz.
The Despojado brotherhood had planned a Halloween party for Saturday night to raise funds for local charities, but the Bishop has forbidden the event from taking place.
A poster advertising one of the parties that has been cancelled. Photo: DiariodeCadiz
Bishop Sánchez said that Halloween was neither "an innocent festival" nor an "autumn carnival".
"Christians celebrate the Life. We are children of the light. And we cannot be participants in a festival in the presence of the saints that involves monsters and other types of characters," he said.
He warned of the importance given to October 31st by occultists as "the most magical day of the year" and warned that Halloween was "the most important day of the year for followers of Satan".
"It sounds like a horror film, but there are very real testimonies of things that have happened on that day," he warned.
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The Bishop of Cádiz has forced religious organizations in the city to cancel planned Halloween events for children.
Bishop Juan Enrique Sánchez, who is responsible for the city’s cofradías - religious brotherhoods - has forbidden the celebration of Halloween, calling it a "satanic festival".
Groups in the city had been planning Halloween parties to raise money for charity, but Bishop Sánchez has put the brakes on the plans, according to local newspaper, Diario de Cádiz.
The Despojado brotherhood had planned a Halloween party for Saturday night to raise funds for local charities, but the Bishop has forbidden the event from taking place.
A poster advertising one of the parties that has been cancelled. Photo: DiariodeCadiz
Bishop Sánchez said that Halloween was neither "an innocent festival" nor an "autumn carnival".
"Christians celebrate the Life. We are children of the light. And we cannot be participants in a festival in the presence of the saints that involves monsters and other types of characters," he said.
He warned of the importance given to October 31st by occultists as "the most magical day of the year" and warned that Halloween was "the most important day of the year for followers of Satan".
"It sounds like a horror film, but there are very real testimonies of things that have happened on that day," he warned.
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