MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. It is unacceptable for Russia to celebrate Halloween as it doesn't jive with the country's values and it is doubly inappropriate amid Russia’s confrontation with the West, says Bishop Euthymius of Lukhovitsy, Chairman of the Synodal Missionary Department of the Moscow Patriarchate and member of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Supreme Council.

Halloween is celebrated annually on the eve of All Saints' Day - on the night from October 31 to November 1. Initially, Halloween was celebrated in English-speaking countries, but, in recent years, its popularity has increased across the world.

"Halloween is a totally alien, externally imposed holiday, which, effectively, serves to legitimize the demonic, evil, inclination in the minds of the people. […] From a social standpoint, Halloween is an instrument to integrate our society into the Western world. But, thank God, Russia went down the path of separation from the West, so it is doubly inappropriate to celebrate this holiday now," the bishop opined in an interview for TASS.

He pointed out that, during Halloween, "death, blood and all kinds of horrors" are presented within the context of festivities, fun and carnival culture. However, for Russia, Christian at heart, death is a "deeply sacred concept, not a thing to be joked about," the cleric said.

"Any playing with death is totally unacceptable and effectively a taboo in our culture," he noted.

Reaction of Russia’s regions

Authorities from several Russian regions have already stated that celebrating Halloween is unacceptable. In Chita (Trans-Baikal Region) and in the Rostov Region, schools were urged not to hold any Halloween events, while the Ministry of Education and Science of Yakutia sent letters to regional districts saying that celebrating Halloween in schools must be prevented.

When asked about his attitude to such initiatives, Bishop Euthymius noted that he endorses the initiative and expresses his personal gratitude to the authorities for this step. He also expressed his hope that administrations of other regions will "act more decisively in countering such destructive phenomena as Halloween."

"Various infernal cults, which Halloween undoubtedly belongs to, aim to disintegrate our society, to alienate people from each other. It is impossible to unite around the idea of death. We unite around the idea of life prevailing over death, good over evil," he explained.