Halloween

Custom of dressing up for Halloween ‘devotional in spirit,’ says bishop
- Catholic News Service, Church in the US
- Oct 31, 2018
Halloween is an opportunity for Catholics “to express in every detail of our observance the beauty and depth of the feast of All Saints,” said Bishop David A. Konderla of Tulsa.
READ MORE
Number of Americans who say they are witches is on the rise
- Catholic News Agency, Church in the US
- Oct 29, 2018
The number of Americans who claim to be witches has increased dramatically over the past 30 years.
READ MORE
It’s not the Great Pumpkin, but for Halloween tale try the Vatican curse
- Global Church
- Oct 31, 2017
Halloween in the United States may be all about candy and scary costumes, but for Italians the dead are no joke. Crux traces back to an ancient curse, buried beneath the walls and ruins of the Vatican in the crypt of St. Peter’s, where a series of unexpected deaths spooked popes and the entire city of Rome for centuries.
READ MORE

Little-known facts about how Halloween came to be
- Associated Press, Church in the US
- Oct 26, 2017
Many practices associated with Halloween have origins in the pre-Christian, or pagan, religion of the Celts, the original inhabitants of the British Isles, as well as parts of France and Spain. Because the Celtic harvest festival Samhain led into the cold, fruitless and dark days of winter, the feast was also an opportunity to contemplate death and to remember those who had gone before.
READ MORE
Irish folklife expert says Halloween traditions began in Ireland
- Catholic News Service, Global Church
- Oct 19, 2017
Father John McHale of Ireland says he never heard of evil spirits being around on Halloween night growing up, noting how the U.S. has influenced the holiday in Ireland. “What I did hear related to the souls of the family that needed prayer, because of the strong belief in purgatory and a belief in the power of indulgences to set them free from purgatory. You had that duty to make sure that you prayed for the souls of the dead on Nov. 2.”
READ MORE
Of gremlins and greatness
- Faith
- Oct 31, 2014
Tonight is All Hallow’s Eve, and to enter it with a flashlight or a lantern as something or someone other than oneself is to take part in the oldest and probably best loved holiday in the world. Pumpkins decorate doorsteps. Webbing drapes doorways. For a brief, magical pause, things aren’t
READ MORE