We DISAGREE | Can Halloween be Catholic Again?
Practicing Catholic Podcast
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26-Oct-2026
In costume, Taylor Kemp and Dr. Scott Hefelfinger take on Halloween: childhood memories, how their families approach it, and where the holiday comes from. They talk about how the Church took up older harvest-season customs into All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints, and All Souls, and why today’s secular Halloween shows a deep human longing around death. They also ask how Catholics should think about horror movies.
Scott’s tip is to treat All Saints’ Day as the center of the three feasts and explain the reason for the season to your kids. For more, see “Eternal Rest: The Art of Dying Well” and the What Catholics Believe episode on Halloween, both on Formed.
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