With the increasing crispness of fall and the whispers of winter, comes perhaps the most controversial occasion amongst conservative Catholics, the modern celebration of Halloween. While many may avoid all semblances of celebration for All Hallow’s Eve, and still others jump into the celebrations blindly and without question, it is important to know where the holiday came from and what it means for us as Catholics, particularly those raising children, in the world today.
Halloween came to American shores largely due to the influx of Irish immigrants in the 19th and 20th century. Since then, the traditions of bobbing for apples and jack o’lantern carving, both of which have Irish (and perhaps, though unlikely, pagan) roots, have become as much a part of autumn American life as leaves turning colors. In America, the tradition of trouble-making also came in the 1930s with the observance of Devil’s Night in Detroit and Mischief Night in New York, which have traditionally been a time of mild to extreme pranks, from “ding-dong ditching” to arson. Fortunately local police forces have been able to keep the crimes at bay in recent years. The 1970s and 1980s brought several horror movies, notably the The Exorcist, The Omen, Halloween, The Shining, and 1984 The Nightmare of Elm Street. These, along with the nights of mischief, have perhaps added to the American fascination with the occult, evil and horror during Halloween.
The focus on death on Halloween remains in both a religious as well as secular sense. One of the lead characters in the 1993 Disney film Hocus Pocus, which is arguably one of the most notable Halloween classics for Millenials, said, “[All Hallows Eve] is the one night of the year where spirits of the dead can return to earth”. The theme of death is so engrained in the holiday that few people think twice about the significance of adorning their houses with ghosts and skeletons. Just as spring is a celebration of new life, autumn is a season to acknowledge the death that is happening in nature around us, as well as a time to focus on our own mortality, and pray for those who have gone before us. Siobhan Maloney, who holds a Master’s in theology said,
I think it’s important for Catholics to reclaim [Halloween] for themselves. Like all things, it’s a balance. The heart of the day is immersed in the Catholic, sacramental sense of the closeness of life and death, the closeness of the communion of saints, and the awareness of eternity being something real in our lives now. All Hallow’s eve… re-connects to those who have gone before us, both those in heaven and those in purgatory. I think it’s a valuable holiday for us, because our society is not used to thinking about death and eternity, and the consequences of our actions in a serious manner.
Furthermore, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1475 says, “In the communion of saints, ‘a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth.”
The emergence of fundamentalist Christian Jack Chick around the 1960s has further added to the Halloween controversy. While the observance of the occasion was seldom, if ever, questioned by Catholics a generation ago, Chick presented it as a Catholic, and therefore, according to him, anti-Christian holiday. Some have argued that the anti-Halloween sentiments often seen amongst Catholics today can in fact be traced back to the anti-Catholic sentiments of Jack Chick. Those in Chick’s ministry still distribute comic-style evangelization material in trick-or-treat bags, which describe Halloween as the devil’s night, some of which drawing parallels between Babylon and Catholicism. The Chick Publications website says, “After much prayer, [Chick] made the decision that, no matter what it cost him personally, he would publish the truth that Roman Catholicism is not Christian.”
Despite where the origins of Halloween lies, in more recent times the way Americans celebration Halloween has become problematic. The focus on mortality and innocent pranks has switched often to a focus on crime, morbidity and even sex. What should be a time to acknowledge those who have gone before us and recall that our own lives on earth are temporary, is now, in American culture a very secular and often scandalous celebration. The most notable and public party at the Playboy mansion is their Halloween party; it is one of the highest-grossing bar nights of the year, and it is almost impossible for a woman to find a commercially-produced Halloween costume that does not show a copious amount of cleavage.
Has American culture hijacked and profaned Halloween to the point that we, as Catholics, should abandon everything that comes with it? While I completely understand American Catholics’ apprehension to the celebration, I would argue no. I believe that we should reclaim that which has become profane, but that does not necessarily mean foregoing all things related to Halloween, and solely focusing on All Saints Day. America loves Halloween; it is the second most commercialized and profitable holiday, next to Christmas. Could this be used as a tool for evangelization? Perhaps. Fr. Augustine Lieb a Third Order Regular Franciscan who lives in Texas, agrees.
“Halloween, like any secular holiday, provides the opportunity for the light of Christ to shine in a broken world. It is our mission to always offer the good news of Jesus Christ in every place and season. While it is true that Halloween may have some of its roots in paganism, and it is a rally day for the occult and witchcraft, our light is meant to shine in the darkness. We should make sure that it does.” (emphasis mine)
The reality of death is a part of life, and I believe it is a good thing to focus on during this time of year. While All Saints Day should (obviously) be acknowledged and celebrated, we should also celebrate Halloween and it’s emphasis on death, in order to reclaim what was once ours as Catholics. Trick-or-treating, even if kids aren’t dressed as saints, I would argue, is innocent. By not polarizing ourselves into our like-minded Catholic groups and realize that the reality of America’s obsession with Halloween might actually work in our favor, we may one day reclaim that holiday that was once ours. As autumn leaves fall, and nature prepares to sleep for the winter, may we too remember that our lives are temporary this Halloween.
Brittany Higdon is a native of Ohio and has been residing in the Washington, DC area for the past six years. She holds a B.A. from Franciscan University of Steubenville and an M.Ed from the University of Virginia. She is a Reading Specialist and is passionate about Catholic education. When she is not teaching or writing, she is exploring the Smithsonian Museums, traveling, and playing with her ferocious Dachshund/Yorkie cross named Cannoli.
