Throughout Italy, the Catholic
church has taken pains to organize October 31 events in hopes of
drawing youth away from the temptation of carving a pumpkin or
attending a Halloween costume party.
Alternative events include all-night prayer vigils, Masses,
and Christian rock concerts.
"It's OK to have a party if the children want one, but let
us not forget All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day (November 1 and
2, respectively)," said Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana
(Christian Family).
"This kind of feast...does not belong to our Christian
roots," commented the bishop of Assisi, Monsignor Domenico
Sorrentino.
Halloween is not a traditional date on the Italian
calendar but has been growing in popularity in recent years,
with trick-or-treating becoming more common and pumpkin sales
rising.
Codacons, a consumer group, says some 10 million Italians
celebrate the festival each year, with a turnover estimated at
some 300 million euros ($420 million).
More than a million pumpkins are sold over the holiday
while fancy-dress shops whose traditional bonanza used to come
at Carnival time in February now make a killing in masks,
costumes and accessories.
One place in Italy has a much longer Halloween history.
A small town in the southeastern region of Puglia, Orsara
di Puglia, has been celebrating it for the past 1,000 years.
According to local historians, the only real difference
between the American tradition and the town's version of
Halloween is the date.
Halloween, a secular take on All Hallows Eve, the night
before All Saints Day, is traditionally celebrated on the
night of October 31, but in Orsara di Puglia the pumpkins
come out on the evening between November 1 (All Saints Day)
and Nov 2 (All Souls Day).
Hollowed-out and candle-lit pumpkins are placed outside
homes on the evening of All Saints Day to keep away evil
spirits and witches.
Townsfolks also light huge bonfires in the streets so as
to illuminate the path of souls on their way to Purgatory.
Historians have traced Orsara's tradition back to a
short-lived 8th-century incursion by a Germanic people, the
Longobards, who in more northern parts supplanted older
civilisations and reigned as the Lombards.
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