My understanding is that the festival tradition of dressing up originally developed as a way to scare away any evil spirits and hide behind masks to avoid them, not to celebrate them. Now it's been taken over by non-Christians, so no one remembers the original festival.

One Halloween in the early 2000's I was at Lake Como in Italy and the Halloween parade consisted of people largely dressed normally, carrying candles through the town while distributing candy to the kids, and ended up in the church itself for midnight mass. Some people in costume joined in, but the main thing was the walk to the church.

After all it is All Hallows' Eve. It's not a super important day for Catholics. The next day and the day after that are far more important days to them. November 1st, which is All Saints Day and especially November 2nd, which is The Feast of All Souls. The three days together are known as Allhallowtide and all three are holy days of obligation.

All Souls is such an important feast in Catholicism that one of the early colleges at Oxford, for example, was called All Souls, founded in the 1438 (its full name is The College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed). Back when they named organisations and institutions they valued in ways they thought would bless all who would be involved with it.

My understanding is that the festival tradition of dressing up originally developed as a way to scare away any evil spirits and hide behind masks to avoid them, not to celebrate them. Now it's been taken over by non-Christians, so no one remembers the original festival.

One Halloween in the early 2000's I was at Lake Como in Italy and the Halloween parade consisted of people largely dressed normally, carrying candles through the town while distributing candy to the kids, and ended up in the church itself for midnight mass. Some people in costume joined in, but the main thing was the walk to the church.

After all it is All Hallows' Eve. It's not a super important day for Catholics. The next day and the day after that are far more important days to them. November 1st, which is All Saints Day and especially November 2nd, which is The Feast of All Souls. The three days together are known as Allhallowtide and all three are holy days of obligation.

All Souls is such an important feast in Catholicism that one of the early colleges at Oxford, for example, was called All Souls, founded in the 1438 (its full name is The College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed). Back when they named organisations and institutions they valued in ways they thought would bless all who would be involved with it and would serve the community.

My understanding is that the festival tradition originally developed as a way to scare away any evil spirits and hide behind masks to avoid them, not to celebrate them. Now it's been taken over by non-Christians, so no one remembers the original festival.

One Halloween in the early 2000's I was at Lake Como in Italy and the Halloween parade consisted of people largely dressed normally, carrying candles through the town while distributing candy to the kids, and ended up in the church itself for midnight mass. Some people in costume joined in, but the main thing was the walk to the church.

After all it is All Hallows' Eve. It's not a super important day for Catholics. The next day and the day after that are far more important days to them. November 1st, which is All Saints Day and especially November 2nd, which is The Feast of All Souls. The three days together are known as Allhallowtide and all three are holy days of obligation.

All Souls is such an important feast in Catholicism that one of the early colleges at Oxford, for example, was called All Souls, founded in the 1438 (its full name is The College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed). Back when they named organisations and institutions they valued in ways they thought would bless all who would be involved with it and would serve the community.

My understanding is that the festival tradition originally developed as a way to scare away any evil spirits and hide behind masks to avoid them, not to celebrate them. Now it's been taken over by non-Christians, so no one remembers the original festival.

One Halloween in the early 2000's I was at Lake Como in Italy and the Halloween parade consisted of people largely dressed normally, carrying candles through the town while distributing candy to the kids, and ended up in the church itself for midnight mass. Some people in costume joined in, but the main thing was the walk to the church.

After all it is All Hallows' Eve. It's not a super important day for Catholics. The next day and the day after that are far more important days to them. November 1st, which is All Saints Day and especially November 2nd, which is The Feast of All Souls. The three days together are known as Allhallowtide and all three are holy days of obligation.

All Souls is such an important feast in Catholicism that one of the early colleges at Oxford, for example, is called All Souls, founded in the 1438 (its full name is The College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed). Back when they named organisations and institutions they valued in ways they thought would bless all who would be involved with it and would serve the community.

My understanding is that the festival was originally designed to scare away the evil spirits and hide behind masks to avoid them, not to celebrate them. Now it's been taken over by non-Christians, so no one remembers the original festival.

One Halloween in the early 2000's I was at Lake Como in Italy and the Halloween parade consisted of people largely dressed normally, carrying candles through the town while distributing candy to the kids, and ended up in the church itself for midnight mass. Some people in costume joined in, but the main thing was the walk to the church.

After all it is All Hallows' Eve. It's not the important day for Catholics. The next day and the day after that are the important days to them. November 1st, which is All Saints Day and especially November 2nd, which is The Feast of All Souls. The three days together are known as Allhallowtide.

All Souls is such an important feast in Catholicism that one of the early colleges at Oxford, for example, is called All Souls, founded in the 1438 (its full name is The College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed). Back when they named organisations and institutions they valued in ways they thought would bless all who would be involved with it and would serve the religious community.

My understanding is that the festival was originally designed to scare away the evil spirits, not to celebrate them. Now it's been taken over by non-Christians, so no one remembers the original festival.

One Halloween in the early 2000's I was at Lake Como in Italy and the Halloween parade consisted of people largely dressed normally, carrying candles through the town while distributing candy to the kids, and ended up in the church itself for midnight mass. Some people in costume joined in, but the main thing was the walk to the church.

After all it is All Hallows' Eve. It's not the important day for Catholics. The next day is the important day to them. November 1st, which is The Feast of All Souls.

All Souls is such an important feast in Catholicism that one of the early colleges at Oxford, for example, is called All Souls, founded in the 1438 (its full name is The College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed). Back when they named organisations and institutions they valued in ways they thought would bless all who would be involved with it and would serve the religious community.

My understanding is that the festival was originally designed to scare away the evil spirits, not to celebrate them. Now it's been taken over by non-Christians, so no one remembers the original festival.

One Halloween I was at Lake Como in Italy and the Halloween parade consisted of people largely dressed normally, carrying candles through the town while distributing candy to the kids, and ended up in the church itself for midnight mass. Some people in costume joined in, but the main thing was the walk to the church.

After all it is All Hallows' Eve. It's not the important day for Catholics. The next day is the important day to them. November 1st, which is The Feast of All Souls.

All Souls is such an important feast in Catholicism that one of the early colleges at Oxford, for example, is called All Souls, founded in the 1438 (its full name is The College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed). Back when they named organisations and institutions they valued in ways they thought would bless all who would be involved with it and would serve the religious community.