GOC Urges Parish Against Halloween
On October 25, the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate released a statement emphasizing that Halloween celebrations are “completely unacceptable for Orthodox Christians”. According to the Church, “The Halloween event is based on religious principles and contradicts the consciousness of the Orthodox Church.”
The Patriarchate notes: “The main story associated with [Halloween] is an example of how a pious tradition can merge with a qualitatively alien one and completely degenerate.”
The statement goes on to explore the history of Halloween, tracing it back to the pagan traditions, and the development of All Saints’ Day in the Catholic church, as well as its modernization in the United States from the 17th to the 19th centuries.
“Although the modern entertainment industry attempts to separate Halloween from religious ritual, the event was and remains a church-born but pagan-influenced event in which, instead of worshipping the icons and sacred parts of the Lord and His saints, processions and pastimes are dedicated to mass culture figures and fallen powers, personifications of demons,” – concludes the statement.
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