Bishop calls for saints, not ghouls, at Halloween

A bishop in the UK has condemned the modern celebration of Halloween today, suggesting that children should dress up as saints rather than in ghoulish fancy dress costumes.

The Rt Rev. Kieran Conry, the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, said he wants October 31 to be reclaimed as a Christian celebration.

In the Christian calendar, Halloween falls on the day before All Hallows’ Day, a day to honour all the saints.

The bishop told BBC Sussex that Halloween had “no meaning to it whatsoever” and was a waste of money for parents who are pressurised to fork out on fancy dress costumes and decorations.

He said: “This is an opportunity to spread the gospel in a slightly different way.

“Shift the focus away from the ghouls, the dead and the spirits, and shift it back to where it originally was at this time.

“I’m not saying it’s the work of the devil, but I think we could do something different with it and spare the expense for parents.”