As Halloween decorations fill streets and stores, the International Association of Exorcists (AIE) is urging Catholics to avoid participating in what it calls a “demonic” and “pagan” celebration and to instead honor the Feast of All Saints.
According to LifeSiteNews, in a statement titled “The Halloween Deception, the Beauty of All Saints,” published on October 27, AIE vice president and experienced exorcist Fr. Francesco Bamonte warned that the modern celebration of Halloween “proposes dark themes such as murderous violence, the mockery of death or its despairing exaltation, the macabre, horror, the occult, witchcraft, the demonic.” According to Fr. Bamonte, these themes “instill the horrid in the minds of the little ones and young people, and then expose them to nightmares and night terrors.”
Fr. Bamonte explained that many Catholics are unaware of the deeper spiritual reality behind Halloween. “Few know that from September 22nd of each year the groups and movements of neo-Witchcraft Wicca and Satanism begin a blasphemous ‘Lent’ that continues for forty days… to reach their peak on the night between October 31st and November 1st,” he wrote. For Catholics, however, “it is instead the beautiful bright night of the Feast of All Saints,” he added.
The AIE warned that Halloween “confirms the profound cultural transformations caused by secularization with its contradictory recovery of the magical mentality culminating in a neo-pagan revival.” The group stated that Halloween “has its roots in a pagan religious celebration: the festival of Samhain,” which included “magical rituals… with animal and even human sacrifices.”
Fr. Bamonte also cited Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, who once said, “I am glad that Christian parents allow their children to worship the devil at least one night a year. Welcome to Halloween!” According to the AIE, even those who do not consciously intend to engage in witchcraft “in fact put themselves in communion with these dark realities” by celebrating Halloween.
Catholic Alternatives to Halloween
In response to the rise of secular and occult-themed celebrations, Fr. Bamonte praised the growing number of Catholic parishes offering faith-based alternatives. “It is comforting and fills the heart with joy that in the evening and night between 31 October and 1 November, as an alternative to Halloween, more and more priests organize various initiatives, such as processions of the Saints, representations of the lives of the Saints in the parish halls, hours of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in reparation and various other proposals,” he wrote.
Among these, the “Night of the Saints” has become a popular tradition in several dioceses, offering a joyful and faith-filled way to celebrate the eve of All Saints’ Day. In some areas, children have even revived the ancient Catholic custom of going door to door—this time not for candy, but to hand out saint cards and share the stories of holy men and women.
While some Catholic authors, such as Dr. Marcel Antonio Brown, have suggested reclaiming Halloween by encouraging children to dress as saints rather than monsters or demons, the AIE maintains that the day has been too deeply “co-opted and inverted by secular and satanic forces” to be considered harmless.
As Fr. Bamonte reminds the faithful, “Halloween thus exalts ugliness and celebrates gruesomeness and darkness.” Instead, Catholics are invited to embrace “the beauty of All Saints,” celebrating the victory of light over darkness and holiness over horror.
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