CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
November 1, 2018
By Mary Cooley
The bishop of the Belleville Diocese in southern Illinois apparently had two very different visits to Catholic schools this week.
At Our Lady Queen of Peace in Belleville, he told fifth- and sixth-grade students that there is no Santa Claus and they should not celebrate Halloween, according to parents.
At Blessed Sacrament School, he answered students’ questions about clergy sex abuse and famous people he had met, and asked what they would dress as for Halloween, the principal said.
Bishop Edward Braxton’s office did not offer any comment to messages left on Wednesday afternoon. The Queen of Peace School office confirmed the bishop had been at the school Tuesday but had no further comment.
“It was something that shouldn’t have been said,” one parent said Wednesday of the bishop’s remarks to the fifth- and sixth-graders.
Boyd Ahlers, father of a fifth-grade boy and sixth-grade girl, said his son had believed in Santa.
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