Dressing up as evil creatures for Halloween ‘dangerous’ – exorcists

With Halloween just a few days away, Roman Catholic exorcists are warning people not to wear costumes resembling evil creatures because it not only glorifies these entities, worse, it might make the person wearing the costume attractive to the demonic entity.

Dominican priest and exorcist of the Archdiocese of Manila Fr. Winston Cabading said wearing costumes of evil creatures and “creatures mythologically associated with the kingdom of darkness” is a “form of idolatry” since it glorifies the evil beings.

“This (costume wearing) is a form of idolatry. It is against the first commandment. The command to love God and worship Him alone is violated because we spend energy and resources that do not glorify God, nor recognize his complete dominion in us, nor recognize that the very resources we use to make those costumes are in fact given by God,” he said in an interview with Philstar.com.

But what if the wearing of the costume has no intent of glorifying the evil creatures, is it still sinful? Fr. Cabading said that if the intent is to have fun, why look like ghoulish creatures? 

“If these ghoulish creatures appear in their dreams and dreams of their children, would that be fun?” he asked.

The exorcist said the costumes resembling evil beings is entertaining for the person looking at them because the one wearing them might “look cute to them”.

However, the priest said the reality that the costume represents is something else. “There are other costumes that are neutral, but ghoulish ones are never neutral,” he said.

He added that “in the end, it is the responsibility of the parents that plays here.”

The late exorcist of the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga Fr. Marius Roque, once recalled a case he handled of a girl who was possessed by the devil after she dressed up as a “black lady” during a Halloween party. 

“One was the case of a teenage girl who wore a black lady costume for a Halloween party in San Matias (San Fernando). After a few weeks, it became obvious she was possessed by evil spirits,” he said in a 2017 article of The STAR.

The exorcist said the girl was frothing in her mouth and belly button when she was brought to him for an exorcism.

“She was violent. Her eyes were rolling and showed only the whites just like Linda Blair in the movie The Exorcist,” Roque was quoted in a 2018 Business Mirror article.  

Fellow exorcist of San Fernando, Pampanga archdiocese Fr. Carthy Macalino reminded that “the Catholic way of celebrating Halloween is not by wearing scary costumes. If we are Catholics, our celebration of Halloween and All Saints’ Day should be our imitation of the saints.”