Halloween Causes Pope Francis To Warn Against Devil

As excitement for Halloween builds, Pope Francis warned that the Devil is real and must be fought ardently during his homily at the Vatican on Thursday.

The pope said Christian life is a continuous battle against Satan. “This generation and many others have been led to believe that the Devil is a myth, a figure, an idea of evil. But the Devil is real and we must fight against him.”

Pope Francis based his homily off the reflections of the Apostle Paul. Paul wrote that Christians must “put on the full armor of God” to resist the temptations of the Devil.

Francis urged listeners to have faith and not succumb to these temptations. He said no one can think of a Christian life “without resisting temptation, without a fight against the Devil, without wearing this armor of God, who gives us strength and protects us.”

His homily comes the day before Halloween, which marks the satanic new year for followers of the occult. Concern over this led more than 300 priests trained to perform exorcisms to hold a conference in Rome this past weekend. The pope endorsed their battle against “the Devil’s works.”

Father Aldo Buonaiuto, of the International Association of Exorcists, recently claimed that the apparent rise in demonic possessions in October can be contributed to the holiday.

The exorcist told the Italian newspaper La Nazione, “Many say Halloween is a simple carnival, but in fact there is nothing innocent or fun about it, it is a subterranean world based on the occult. Halloween is the anti-chamber towards something much more disturbing.”

Buonaiuto is also a member of the Pope John XXIII Association, a Catholic organization which fights black magic sects around the world.

Now some in the Catholic Church want to take action against the traditional Halloween. Buonaiuto suggests the day should be “Holyween,” and children could attend prayer vigils and dress up as saints.

Do you think Pope Francis and the International Association of Exorcists are overreacting in response to Halloween? Let us know in the comments!