Halloween and catholic school. What is the deal?

[TittyBoneGhoul]

My child came home from school in floods of tears because apparently he asked his teacher why she had told them to stop discussing Halloween during their free time, and why the school don’t do anything at Halloween. Her reaction was to shout at him (he says) very loud , telling him not to be ridiculous and that if he wants to celebrate Satan he should do so at home and not in school. He then asked me, what is Satan.
For god sake I had no idea catholic people could be so against Halloween? They aren’t even allowed to draw a pumpkin picture..

Can anyone shed any light? We are not catholic but I didn’t know Halloween was meant to be to do
With satan?! Just a bit of fun at our end

Our son goes to a Catholic secondary. They have a Halloween disco every year

My dc's catholic school has a Halloween disco.

Think that's just her personal opinion rather than a 'catholic' thing.

I’m an Irish Catholic & have never known a school to not celebrate Halloween? 🤔 ....Or any Catholic person to not celebrate it in the usual way.

That said if you send your child to a catholic school you have be prepared for catholic teachings

DS1 (almost 13) goes to a Catholic secondary, and went before that to a Catholic primary. No suggestion at either that there was anything the matter with having fun on Halloween. Some schools need to lighten up, by the sound of it.

The Baptists and Pentecostals in my extended family will not even talk about Hallowe'en, let alone celebrate it. So it doesn't surprise me that other varieties of Christianity can feel similarly about letting in the devil and so on. (Also can’t discuss things like crop

Catholics in general and Catholic Schools in general DONT have a problem with Halloween

They had more of a problem with Comic Relief and Children In Need in my day!

...circles -stupid phone. I am more of a "know thine enemy" mindset - how can you conquer your enemy if you know nothing about them?)

Sounds like she's some kind of puritanical fanatic rather than a Catholic. Never heard of a school not doing Halloween and I'm in Ireland. Plenty of Catholic schools here.

It is big in Ireland as it was a Celtic festival celebrated in Ireland and Scotland.
It was called guising long before it was trick or treating.
However it is all hallows Eve so traditionally the night spirits roam the earth before the saints Day tomorrow.
So some schools and some youth groups that meet in churches don't celebrate it.. whether they are in Scotland Ireland or England

We don’t and never have really celebrated Halloween. Not because we’re catholic - we have Anglican friends who feel much more strongly than us from a religious perspective. That said, I’m not sure why you celebrate the souls in purgatory roaming the earth to find peace but each to their own.
We always thought it was rather tacky and included everything we taught our children not to do.

Presumably you chose the school your child attends so the complaint that Catholic sensibilities spoil Halloween is rather an odd one.

You really shouldn't have put you child in a religious school if you didn't understand the religion

EBearhug

Same as my family- Baptists/Pentecostal. Halloween is a big no go.

Our local state run primary has a religious zealot as head ( non dom school) and he won;t allow any talk of Halloween either, ( in UK)

Halloween is a festival not rooted in any major world religion.

It is celebrated by a number of neo pagan religions. They might not be major, but are as worthy of respect as any other religion.

Catholic sensibilities? Shouting about Satan. Ok

I didn’t say I didn’t understand the religion.
I’m saying I didn’t realise there was such a diverse reaction to Halloween amongst catholics

Super goady post OP. No need for that at all, and I'm quite sure you knew exactly what you were doing.

Imagine the outcry if you wrote the same about eg Muslims?

Genuinely not goady so I’m not sure why you keep saying that. But I’m not going to keep repeating myself. Have explained it best I can. Il speak with his teacher tomorrow.

My children go to a catholic secondary school, there was an S1 Halloween disco. Think the teacher needs to calm themselves down a bit 🎃👻

Catholic here, no issues with Halloween, it's big in this house. In fact none of the Catholics I know have a problem with it. Our Catholic school had Halloween decorations up. I have no idea what the teacher was going on about, maybe just her own opinion? I would complain to the school, she certainly shouldn't be shouting at students.

How old is your child? My children go to a catholic school and dress up on the day if is isn't the school holidays.

Separate issue I will never understand people who send their kids to a faith school if they aren't practising that faith!

My children attend a Catholic and Christian mix school. In order to accepted into the school i had to prove my children had been baptised in a Christian Church. Had they been baptised in a Methodist church, they wouldn't have got in.

Halloween is not allowed to be discussed at school. They cannot draw pictures about it, or put it in their weekly diaries. We've accepted that's just the way it is, even though we're not catholic. I wanted them to go to that school, and I therefore have to respect their rules. At Christmas and Easter they both come home like they've swallowed a bible. Again, all part of being at that school.

Had they been baptised in a Methodist church, they wouldn't have got in.

Since when have Methodists not been Christians?

The thing is we're all very ignorant about other people's religious observance. Tomorrow is All Saints' Day - a national holiday in France where people go and put flowers on their dead relatives graves.

Why send your child to a Catholic school if you disagree with Catholic beliefs?