Bah! Humbug! Bishop condemned for telling children there is no Santa

A Roman Catholic diocese in Italy has apologised to outraged parents after its bishop told a group of children that Santa Claus does not exist.

In a Facebook post and subsequent comments on Friday, the diocese of Noto in Sicily insisted that Bishop Antonio Stagliano did not mean to dash the dreams of youngsters two weeks before Christmas.

The diocesan communications director, the Rev Alessandro Paolino, said Mr Stagliano was trying to underline the true meaning of Christmas and the story of St Nicholas, a bishop who gave gifts to the poor and was persecuted by a Roman emperor.

“First of all, on behalf of the bishop, I express my sorrow for this declaration which has created disappointment in the little ones, and want to specify that Monsignor Stagliano‘s intentions were quite different,” Mr Paolino wrote on the diocesan Facebook page.

“We certainly must not demolish the imagination of children, but draw good examples from it that are positive for life,” he continued.

“So Santa Claus is an effective image to convey the importance of giving, generosity, sharing. But when this image loses its meaning, you see Santa Claus aka consumerism, the desire to own, buy, buy and buy again, then you have to revalue it by giving it a new meaning.”

“You are the demonstration that, when it comes to families, children and family education, you don’t understand a thing,” wrote one commenter, Mary Avola.