Nations Church senior pastor Peter Tate says this was far more effective than selling cheese rolls or chocolate

He said while some members of his congregation did not like them, there was nothing against fireworks in the Bible. Continue reading

Victoria University historian Grant Morris says that, although the Guy Fawkes celebration is now stripped of its original meaning, "it retains that anti-Catholic title."

He says it is a "bit odd" the celebration of Guy Fawkes continues because "Catholicism is now the largest Christian denomination in New Zealand."

Wellington's mayor is pulling the plug on the city's 22-year-old Guy Fawkes festival in favour of the Maori New Year festival, Matariki.

Justin Lester said Matariki ought to be a cornerstone celebration, rather than Guy Fawkes which marks "the anniversary of an attempt to blow up British parliament more than 400 years ago."

Morris says Guy Fawkes was once a significant sectarian celebration.

"In New Zealand early on there was that sectarian tension, so it would have meant more to those settlers, would have meant more to a Protestant settler what they were celebrating in relation to Guy Fawkes, but also to a Catholic settler what they weren't celebrating."

In the mid-to-late 19^th Century, the Freemasons and the Orange Order would have marched in recognition of the day.

And Catholics in New Zealand at the time would have been uncomfortable and wary, Morris says.

Writing in the Guardian about the residual prejudice against Catholics in the UK, Catherine Pepinster says it comes from those who are avowedly secular.

"It was apparent in protests during Pope Benedict XVI's state visit in 2010.

"Hideous caricatures of the pope appeared on the streets - of the German pope carrying a swastika rather than a crucifix. Catholicism seems fair game."

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• Wellington City Council
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He says as a staunch monarchist and life-long Anglican, he believes celebrating Guy Fawkes not only teaches us the glory of the English parliamentary system but also warns us of the toxic Catholic scourge, as it was a group of Catholic activists who sought to blow up parliament buildings back in 1605.

"Were it not for Protestants discovering the plot we might never have had such British parliamentary heroes as Theresa May, Margaret Thatcher, Enoch Powell, and George Galloway." Read more

Mrs Fox said it was inappropriate for New Zealanders to be celebrating Guy Fawkes.

"When I was a child they used to still make a guy from straw and hay bales, and set it on fire. That's effectively burning an effigy and in fact as a child I thought that was the scariest thing I'd ever seen in my life." Continue reading

Nothing could be further from the truth. The origins of Halloween are, in fact, very Christian and rather American. Halloween falls on October 31 because of a pope, and its observances are the result of medieval Catholic piety.

It's true that the ancient Celts of Ireland and Britain celebrated a minor festival on October 31-as they did on the last day of most other months of the year. However, Halloween falls on the last day of October because the Solemnity of All Saints, or "All Hallows," falls on November 1. The feast in honour of all the saints in heaven used to be celebrated on May 13, but Pope Gregory III (d. 741) moved it to November 1, the dedication day of All Saints Chapel in St. Peter's at Rome. Later, in the 840s, Pope Gregory IV commanded that All Saints be observed everywhere. And so the holy day spread to Ireland.

The day before was the feast's evening vigil, "All Hallows Even," or "Hallowe'en." In those days Halloween didn't have any special significance for Christians or for long-dead Celtic pagans. Continue reading.

Fr Augustine Thompson, O.P., is an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia.

Source: uCatholic / Catholic Parent magazine

Image: Fanpop