Cultivate beauty and goodness to combat the cultural evil surrounding October 31, says Spanish cleric.

Father Javier Ortega, priest of Spain’s Diocese of Alcalá de Henares, said demon, witch and dead costumes commonly worn for Halloween are not recommended because “you’re somehow seducing the devil.”

In a recent interview published on the diocese’s website, Father Ortega asked parents not to allow their children to attend these celebrations and, if so, to “dress up like saints or wear costumes of beautiful and lovely things.”

“Don’t let them dress like demons, or dress like witches, or dress like dead people,” he said, “because somehow you open the doors; You are somehow tempting the devil. … So it’s not a neutral thing.”

The priest also pointed out that “there is an influence of evil” behind the pagan Halloween festival. He even said that today was the “greatest day” for Satanists. It’s a celebration that “of course has nothing to do with the Christian faith” and, he lamented, “we’re being a little bit complicit.”

“When you play with fire you can get burned, that’s clear; You can’t always burn, but you can. “When you play with spirits, with elements of esotericism or occultism, you open the doors of evil,” he warned.

The priest also warned that the evil one “also takes advantage of ignorance and naivety” and, although the children are often unaware of this background, they are “somehow participating in a festival that has nothing to do with it.”

“If you drink poison, you poison yourself even if you don’t know it,” he added.

Father Ortega also noted the danger behind esoteric or other types of practices such as Ouija, Reiki, New Age or “certain levels of yoga” because, he added, “deep down you are summoning the devil; you are pushing your luck.”

Cultivate beauty and goodness to combat the cultural evil surrounding October 31, the Spanish cleric instructed.

Reminding believers that “beauty will save the world” and that it is very important to educate children about beauty, the priest said, “We should attach importance to children’s imagination so that they can have beautiful and cute things in their dreams.”

He recommended that there should be pictures of the guardian angel Virgin Mary in children’s rooms, not “ugly pictures”, and that “children should be blessed every night, hear words of abundance, words from the sky, divine words”. hope.”

We live in a world where there are ugly things that are very harmful to children, things that really attack the purity and innocence of children. … Then we must fight against this with all our strength.

this story first published By ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. Translated and adapted by CNA.