Does the Pope celebrate pagan holidays like Christmas and Easter ?

Jerusalem

In 385, Silvia of Bordeaux was profoundly impressed by the splendid Childhood feasts at Jerusalem. They had a definitely "Nativity" colouring; the bishop proceeded nightly to Bethlehem, returning to Jerusalem for the day celebrations. The Presentation was celebrated forty days after. But this calculation starts from 6 January, and the feast lasted during the octave of that date. Again she mentions as high festivals Easter and Epiphany alone.

In 385, therefore, 25 December was not observed at Jerusalem. This checks the so-called correspondence between Cyril of Jerusalem (348-386) and Pope Julius I (337-352), quoted by John of Nikiû (c. 900) to convert Armenia to 25 December. Cyril declares that his clergy cannot, on the single feast of Birth and Baptism, make a double procession to Bethlehem and Jordan. (This later practice is here an anachronism.) He asks Julius to assign the true date of the nativity "from census documents brought by Titus to Rome"; Julius assigns 25 December. Another document makes Julius write thus to Juvenal of Jerusalem (c. 425-458), adding that Gregory Nazianzen at Constantinople was being criticized for "halving" the festival. But Julius died in 352, and by 385 Cyril had made no change; indeed, Jerome, writing about 411, reproves Palestine for keeping Christ's birthday (when He hid Himself) on the Manifestation feast. Cosmas Indicopleustes suggests that even in the middle of the sixth century Jerusalem was peculiar in combining the two commemorations, arguing from Luke 3:23 that Christ's baptism day was the anniversary of His birthday. The commemoration, however, of David and James the Apostle on 25 December at Jerusalem accounts for the deferred feast.

Usener, arguing from the "Laudatio S. Stephani" of Basil of Seleucia (c. 430.), thinks that Juvenal tried at least to introduce this feast, but that Cyril's greater name attracted that event to his own period.

Antioch

In Antioch, on the feast of St. Philogonius, Chrysostom preached an important sermon. The year was almost certainly 386, though Clinton gives 387, and Usener, by a long rearrangement of the saint's sermons, 388. But between February, 386, when Flavian ordained Chrysostom priest, and December is ample time for the preaching of all the sermons under discussion. In view of a reaction to certain Jewish rites and feasts, Chrysostom tries to unite Antioch in celebrating Christ's birth on 25 December, part of the community having already kept it on that day for at least ten years. In the West, he says, the feast was thus kept, anothen; its introduction into Antioch he had always sought, conservatives always resisted. This time he was successful; in a crowded church he defended the new custom. It was no novelty; from Thrace to Cadiz this feast was observed — rightly, since its miraculously rapid diffusion proved its genuineness. Besides, Zachary, who, as high-priest, entered the Temple on the Day of Atonement, received therefore announcement of John's conception in September; six months later Christ was conceived, i.e. in March, and born accordingly in December.

So this is your christmas 101 sermon. It is tough when you are so ignorant.

The church under Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25 in 350 AD in order to try to hijack the PAGAN festivals but it was largely ignored. Christians did not really celebrate Christmas until 378 but it was then dropped in 381 and not resurrected until 400.

Easter is set by the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This is the one day in the year when day and night are roughly equal!

It varies by more than a month over the years and so it simply cannot represent the date of anyone's death!

The Venerable Bede, an early Christian writer pointed out that the Christian church absorbed Pagan practices when it found the population unwilling to give up the festivals. Thus a lot of what Christians now see as Christians practices are in fact pagan!

He is always in the news around the times of those pagan holidays, so I guess he celebrates them. It's funny that the Catholic Encyclopedia knows about the pagan holidays, but the Pope seems to ignore what his own books say about the pagan holidays.

Consider these quotes from the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, under “Christmas”: “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church…the first evidence of the feast is from Egypt.” Further, “Pagan customs centering around the January calends gravitated to Christmas.” Under “Natal Day,” Origen, an early Catholic writer, admitted, “…In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners(like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day in which they were born into this world”.

The Encyclopedia Americana, 1956 edition, adds, “Christmas…was not observed in the first centuries of the Christian church, since the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth…a feast was established in memory of this event [Christ's birth] in the fourth century. In the fifth century the Western Church ordered the feast to be celebrated forever on the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of the Saturnalia, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ's birth existed.”

Yes he does.

Is there any objection to sharing in celebrations that may have unchristian roots as long as it is not done for religious reasons?

Eph. 5:10, 11: “Keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord; and quit sharing with them in the unfruitful works that belong to the darkness, but, rather, even be reproving them.”

2 Cor. 6:14-18: “What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Be′lial? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols? . . . ‘“Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,” says Jehovah, “and quit touching the unclean thing”’; ‘“and I will take you in, . . . and you will be sons and daughters to me,” says Jehovah the Almighty.’” (Genuine love for Jehovah and a strong desire to be pleasing to him will help a person to break free from unchristian practices that may have had emotional appeal. A person who really knows and loves Jehovah does not feel that by shunning practices that honor false gods or that promote falsehood he is in any way deprived of happiness. Genuine love causes him to rejoice, not over unrighteousness, but with the truth. See 1 Corinthians 13:6.)

Compare Exodus 32:4-10. Notice that the Israelites adopted an Egyptian religious practice but gave it a new name, “a festival to Jehovah.” But Jehovah severely punished them for this. Today we see only 20th-century practices associated with holidays. Some may appear harmless. But Jehovah observed firsthand the pagan religious practices from which these originated. Should not his view be what matters to us?

Illustration: Suppose a crowd come to a gentleman’s home saying they are there to celebrate his birthday. He does not favor the celebration of birthdays. He does not like to see people overeat or get drunk or engage in loose conduct. But some of them do all those things, and they bring presents for everyone there except him! On top of all that, they pick the birthday of one of the man’s enemies as the date for the celebration. How would the man feel? Would you want to be a party to it? This is exactly what is being done by Christmas celebrations.

The pope recently just admitted that Jesus wasn't born in December, that it was a translational error, so its not a celebration of Jesus's birth, we know that. Actually, if you look at the ancient pagan holiday that it came from, it has strange ties to psychedelic mushrooms, as does the oldest version of the Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls. These mushrooms grew around the same trees that we put in our living rooms once a year and they would hang things on them to mark them so they could find them easier. Reindeers would seek them out and eat the mushrooms to get intoxicated. There are old stories of a fat white-bearded man who was a shaman and would give the people the mushrooms, and that they would experience elves and incredible delight.

Most of Christianity, and most of modern day religion, stems from ancient paganism. Even Halloween, which happened recently, is the ancient Celtic celebration Sahwain. They'd don frightening costumes and light fires because it was the time when the spirit world and the living world were closest together. When the Christians took their land they actively tried to convert them and adopted their holiday so they would accept it easier. In the history of religions, this happens often.

Easter was celebrated every week. It was (and still is) called the Lord's Day. The Annual celebration came later, but that does not make it pagan. The Easter Bunny was a secular invention. Christmas was never a pagan holiday either.

The pope belongs to a PAGAN church so I guess he does celebrate PAGAN holidays such as Christmas & holidays !

Amazing how so many people see the pagan roots and yet still celebrate them think God will not mind, as the Bible says, "God is not one to be mocked" !

See "Christmas Customs—Are They Christian?

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2000920?q=Chris...

Do you still beat your wife?

The Pope celebrates the birth of Christ at Christmas and the Rising of jesus at Easter

All the festivals of the Old testament are are on dates already taken by pagan precedessors

and most of the observances of the Old testament are direct borrowings from 'pagan' religious customs ( sacrifices, etc) does that make the Torah a 'pagan 'book?

I am so grateful that i had a happy celebratory Catholic Christian childhood with Chrsitmas trees, gifts ,birthdays, etc in my home and that i was not in a JW Taliban home

Digusting isn't it. Funny how when people are asked if they as self-professed Christians celebrate it, they acknowledge the fully historically & theologically documented pagan backgrounds of the holidays & just make the excuse 'but if it isn't celebrated for that reason anymore then who cares'. But when the question is reworded in this way, they start to backpedal. Funny indeed.

It's no secret that both Christmas & Easter have pagan origins, & even that it would have been impossible for Jesus to have been born anytime in the month of December . For those that are too lazy to do their own deeper research, (and for those that would rather spend their time twisting the historical & theological facts to suit their own defensive excuses so that they can sleep at night with their choices of worship instead of admit their error) it's made very simple for you by being simply in every major encyclopedia, & even the precious Catholic Encyclopedia. Easy-peasy. Untwistable. And excuse-free.

Now, suppose a crowd comes to a gentleman’s home saying they are there to celebrate his birthday. He does not favor the celebration of birthdays. He does not like to see people overeat or get drunk or engage in loose conduct. But some of them do all those things, and they bring presents for everyone there except him! On top of all that, they pick the birthday of one of the man’s enemies as the date for the celebration. How would the man feel? Would you want to be a party to it? This is exactly what is being done by Christmas celebrations.

Suppose a gentleman gave his life for the ultimate of reasons, to save all of those he loved, even those that weren't kind to him. Because he was just that wonderful of a person. When he is resurrected, rather than honoring the sacrifice he made in the way he set out for us clearly, he finds that people have instead disrespectfully attached silly unrelated customs of a rabbit & eggs, much less from a pagan holiday that was used to worship pagan gods in direct opposition of him... just because it's fun. Would he feel that they appreciated the value of his sacrifice at all? Or were just in it for themselves? How would that make him feel? That is Easter.

Not only the religious & moral issues here, but those in the world that are bound by these holidays are truly the deprived ones, always having to wait around for designated days for fun things. I mean really, want to have candy? Have it! Why wait? Want to have a party to get together with friends? Have it! Why wait? Want to give gifts? Give them! Why wait? In fact, I know of no other people that get together more for fun things, for fun gift times & celebrations, for get-togethers with families & friends than those that AREN'T bound by these holidays. I mean really, how are people that experience far MORE gift days & celebrations & get-togethers than the holidays the deprived ones exactly? Laughable.

So with those questions resolved, how about the more important one. What about following Jesus purely? What is there to question? Just do it! Why wait? Why have yet another reason to be held back by these holidays? Much less holidays that are downright insulting to him, have customs that are well-documented to come from celebrations that were in direct opposition to him? How can we claim to love him & not do so? Why make selfish excuses? What is there to even make excuses about at that point? That just because the pope does it, it makes it ok??... Or rather, if people really take the time to think about it for themselves, does the fact that the pope does it moreso simply drive the point home that someone that is looked to as a Christian 'leader' of a major religion does not have the respect & love for our beloved ultimate leader Jesus Christ that he claims to, blatantly doing this when he knows the very UNchristian history of it... Something to think about.

Yes

Christmas = Saturnalia where Saturn was worshipped as a god

Easter = Ashtoreth queen of heaven in the OT

Scripture states that every day is an holy day unto the Lord

Psa 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

>Christmas is not pagan because it's a celebration of the birth of Jesus

Show me Junior's birth date in the Bibble.

Thanks.

>and Easter isn't pagan because it's a celebration of Jesus's resurrectioon.

I suggest you do some research into the subject.