MANILA, Oct. 27, 2012— The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) has called on its member schools to shun holding Halloween parties.
Fr. Greg Bañaga, CEAP president, said that Catholic institutions should lead in upholding the dignity of deceased persons by not celebrating All Saints Day and All Souls Day with scary costumes.
“Iwasan natin ang mga ganyang Halloween party kasi hindi naman Christian holidays. Ang dapat nating i-focus ay yung November 1 at November 2,” Bañaga told Radio Veritas.
He said that All Saints Day was instituted to honor all of the saints while All Souls Day is an opportunity for the people to pray for all the faithful departed.
“Knowing that even if they are not here with us, they are still members of the Church and that there is some bond that unite us with them even if physically they are not here anymore,” said Bañaga.
The Church has long been against the idea of glorifying evil during Halloween rites.
Several prelates are particularly concerned with young people, especially children, who may get wrong and questionable values because of the practice.
During Halloween, where participants are mostly children, most activities tend to highlight on death, ghost, ghouls, evil, magic, and monsters. (RL/CBCPNews)
