The International Association of Exorcist Priests (IAE) warned in early October against the deviations observed around Halloween: “Today, the celebration of Halloween seems closely linked to dark and obscure realities such as witchcraft and Satanism,” underlines Father Francesco Bamonte, an Italian, vice-president of the association.
Is Halloween harmless ? Not so much! In any case, it is sufficiently intriguing for the International Association of Exorcists to look into the matter, issue a fairly clear opinion and publish a book on the subject. Because even if many of our contemporaries do not see the evil linked to this holiday that is intended to be fun and childish, celebrating Halloween, according to exorcist priests, is to enter into communion with an evil spiritual current and to become involuntarily more vulnerable to the actions of the devil .
The International Association of Exorcists (IAE), based in Rome, was founded in 1994 by exorcists Don Gabriele Amorth and Father René Chenesseau. Accredited by the Holy See in 2014, it now brings together more than 900 exorcist priests or emeritus exorcists from around the world. Its vice-president, Father Francesco Bamonte, has just published a book-interview, available only in Italian, entitled Il fascino oscuro di Halloween , which can be translated as ” The obscure fascination of Halloween “, which is intended to be a help for families, educators and priests.
He looks back at the origins of Halloween, a pagan religious festival – the festival of Samhain – with origins in the Celtic world, reinterpreted by American society which has made Halloween a consumerist festival. “In this way, Halloween is rooted in magic, horror and death, unlike Christianity, which has its roots in Christ who, despite the trials of life, gives serenity, hope, peace and happiness”, notes Father Francesco Bamonte. “Today, Halloween seems closely linked to dark and obscure realities such as witchcraft and Satanism”, he warns. Thus, for Satanists, Halloween marks the beginning of the Satanic year. “The phenomenon is therefore very worrying and constitutes a real danger because, even if those who do it do not intend to celebrate witchcraft and the devil, they enter into communion with this evil spiritual current by which, without realizing it, they see themselves enveloped as if by a halo of darkness, consequently becoming more vulnerable to the ordinary and extraordinary actions of the devil, with all the disastrous consequences that this entails for their lives.”
Highlighting the true meaning of All Saints’ Day
To “reverse this sad phenomenon”, the priest invites families, priests and parishes to highlight the true meaning of All Saints’ Day . Making, blessing and wearing saints’ costumes during the All Saints’ Day mass, staging the lives of saints, torchlight processions in the streets, praying for peace, holding prayer vigils before the Blessed Sacrament… The exorcist priest has no shortage of ideas to counter Halloween and to give rise to missionary fire in Christians rather than the fire of hell. Finally, he exhorts priests to return to the communion that unites the faithful to all the saints and all the deceased, to distinguish “what is harmless from what is not”, to celebrate “our holy brothers, whose intercession can obtain so many graces for us” and to “commemorate our dear deceased, who await our prayers and with whom we hope to be united one day by eternity”.
