For many, the weeks leading up to Halloween are filled with fun. It's a time to embrace of the changing seasons. People get festive, decorating their lawns and homes, or planning intricate costumes. We can snuggle up inside and watch scary movies and drink pumpkin spice-flavored everything or warm apple cider.
And of course, for the kids (and to be honest, the big kids in all of us), there is the promise of candy. But for all of the excitement, there are some people who just don’t do Halloween. One priest let that be known, and is now catching some flak for his behavior.
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The priest decided to destroy a jack-o'-lantern display.
Father Jaromir Smejkal, a Catholic priest in South Moravia, in the Czech Republic, destroyed jack-o'-lantern decorations. The decorations appeared in the village of Kurdejov, near Smejkal’s church, the BBC reported. Smejkal called the pumpkins, which were created by children, “satanic.” And he took it upon himself to stomp them into mush. Twice. The priest stomped the pumpkins until they looked nothing like their former selves.
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The children made new jack-o'-lanterns but were disappointed again.
The young artists had carved the pumpkins as a part of the Halloween festivities organized by the village, local newspaper Breclavsky Denik reported. Some of these children were in tears when they discovered all of their hard work had been scattered and flattened.
They carved new pumpkins only to find those demolished again. Smejkal eventually admitted to the vandalism, claiming that he would have acted differently had he known the pumpkins had been carved by children.
The priest apologized, but stood by his beliefs.
The priest shared his apology in an open letter to the mayor, later published on the town’s Facebook page. Still Smejkal, a parish priest at the Roman Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist, stood by his convictions.
"Leaving the rectory on Sunday evening, I saw numerous symbols of the satanic feast of 'Halloween' placed in front of our sacred grounds," he wrote. "I acted according to my faith and duty to be a father and protector of the children entrusted to me and removed these symbols.”
The priest believes Halloween was designed to compete with All Souls Day.
The Czech Republic is considered one of the least religious countries in the world, according to the BBC. But traditional Christian feasts, like All Souls Day, are still popular among both believers and atheists.
Smejkal believes that Halloween, a western holiday, was conceived in a “heathen, contemporary world,” in opposition to the Christian All Souls Day. Smejkal believes he acted with children in mind. "But try to remember that my duty as a figure of authority and a priest is to protect children and families from hidden evil," he wrote.
