A senior statesman of the Philippines' dominant Catholic church has
accused Santa Claus of stealing the true spirit of Christmas, which he
said is deteriorating into a shopping frenzy.
In comments
published by a Roman Catholic website on Friday, Teodoro Bacani, a newly
retired Manila bishop, said Santa Claus now had too much appeal in the
Philippines, where eight in 10 people are baptised Catholics.
"Santa
Claus helps promote consumerism because he is the symbol of shopping
and gift-giving. Christ symbolises the sacrifice of life for man. But
Santa has more commercial draw," Bacani said.
Bacani lamented that
statues and images of Santa Claus were now displayed prominently across
the Philippines while the traditional Christian symbol of the creche
denoting the birth of Jesus was disappearing.
Filipinos should
remember that Christmas is meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus, said
Bacani, a former close confidant of the late Philippine leader and
democracy icon Corazon Aquino.
"Let us keep Christ at Christmas.
Let us project Christ at Christmas," he said in comments carried by the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website.
It said the comments were originally made in an interview with the Manila Catholic radio station, Veritas.
SIC: AFP/INT'L
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