Scottish Catholic Observer

by Clare Louise McKenna

The ‘Holyween’ initiative was launched after the Vatican held it’s first official conference of exorcists in Rome last weekend. Fr Aldo Buonaiuto, of the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) and director of a charity that helps young people who have become involved in satanic cults, warned: “Many say Hallowe’en is a simple carnival, but in fact there is nothing innocent or fun about it – it is the antechamber to something much more dangerous.”

The organisation’s emergency number receives an increase in calls during this period, approximately around forty a dah, he said mostly from parents who worry that their child has been drawn into the occult. Fr Buonaito said ‘there are always more evil rituals, animal sacrifices, desecrations of cemeteries and thefts of sacred bones at the time of the 31 October.”

Participating in Halloween is ‘like an initiation into the Occult’, he suggested.

“For the sects it is the best time of year to recruit new members. From here the door to the devil can be opened,” he said. “For this reason its necessary for us to speak out and not play down the danger.”

Fr Buonaito believes that ‘Holyween’ will focus on good rather than evil.

“While most people are steeped in zombies and horror we put on our door or windows a light or an image evocative of the saints,” he said. “And then there will be Masses, prayer vigils and worship to celebrate the saints and victory of good over evil.”

The conference of 300 exorcists from all over the globe took place over the weekend after the IAE was officially recognised by the Vatican in June. In a message to the conference, Pope Francis asked participants to treat those who are possessed with kindness. He stated ‘Those who perform this particular ministry, in conjunction with the bishops’, must work ‘with love and kindness from the Church towards those who suffer because of the Evil One’.