{"id":120252,"date":"2023-10-21T12:10:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T12:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yourclomid.com\/?p=120252"},"modified":"2023-10-21T12:10:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T12:10:32","slug":"pumpkin-smashing-priest-sorry-for-vandalising-village-kids-halloween-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yourclomid.com\/world-news\/pumpkin-smashing-priest-sorry-for-vandalising-village-kids-halloween-display\/","title":{"rendered":"Pumpkin smashing priest \u2018sorry\u2019 for vandalising village kids\u2019 Halloween display"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/5025207.jpg?r=1697888935020\"><\/p>\n<p>A Czech village priest who went on a Halloween-hating rampage smashing pumpkins designed by children has apologised.<\/p>\n<p>Father Jaromir Smejkal wrote an open letter to the local mayor after receiving \u201cverbal abuse\u201d from some citizens for his destructive outburst in Kurdejov, a small community in the South Moravia region last weekend.<\/p>\n<p>The Catholic priest said he attacked the \u201csatanic\u201d Halloween symbols because they had been placed close to a holy shrine and they were representative of \u201cspirits (evil)\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Over two days Fr Smejkal smote the large orange carved objects because he said he was acting &#8220;according to my faith and duty to be a father and protector of entrusted children \u2018souls\u2019 and removed symbols.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, after outrage at the vandalism Fr Smejkal wrote that he has since realised the pumpkins had been created as part of a community event he was not aware of.<\/p>\n<p> <strong> READ MORE&#8230; <\/strong> <strong>\u2018Dangerous\u2019 chinos and blue shirt combo banned by students&#8217; union<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/5025208.jpg?r=1697888935099\"><\/p>\n<p>His letter continued: \u201cOnly the next day I learned that it was a communal event and children&#8217;s creations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I knew that, despite my duty to act decisively and radically against evil, I would have considered touching the feelings of my loved ones, especially, children, and I would adapt an external expression of my action to that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#8217;t like hurting anyone, especially children, and therefore I apologise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The BBC reports Fr Smejkal, who preaches at the Roman Catholic Church of St John the Baptist, also added in his letter that the Halloween is something born in a \u201ccontemporary world as a counterweight\u201d to the Christian holidays of \u2018All Saints\u2019 and \u2018All Souls\u2019.<\/p>\n<p> <strong> Don&#8217;t miss&#8230; 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Unlimited access to all our content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/logo\/logo-premium-subscription.png\"><\/p>\n<p>After Fr Smejkal\u2019s rampage the Village of Kurdejov Facebook page posted this statement before he was identified: \u201cYesterday&#8217;s Pumpkin and Lantern Parade had a great atmosphere full of fun, children&#8217;s enthusiasm and we think the adults also had a great time seeing the enthusiasm in the eyes of their children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much worse is this morning. We probably won&#8217;t find the vandal in question who ruined the children&#8217;s enjoyment, but we believe that he is reading this post and is sick of himself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The pagan festival of Halloween is seen by some conservatives in the Czech Republic as eroding the values of the church. But Czech newspaper iDNES reports officials above Fr Smekal did not condone his actions.<\/p>\n<p>Pavel Kafka, vicar general of the Brno diocese, said in a statement: &#8220;I spoke with the parish priest and pointed out to him the inappropriateness of his behaviour. The leadership of the diocese does not agree with this behaviour and will resolve the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/news\/world\/1826429\/Halloween-pumpkins-village-priest-rampage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>A Czech village priest who went on a Halloween-hating rampage smashing pumpkins designed by children has apologised. Father Jaromir Smejkal wrote an open letter to <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/yourclomid.com\/world-news\/pumpkin-smashing-priest-sorry-for-vandalising-village-kids-halloween-display\/\" title=\"Pumpkin smashing priest \u2018sorry\u2019 for vandalising village kids\u2019 Halloween display\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pumpkin smashing priest \u2018sorry\u2019 for vandalising village kids\u2019 Halloween display - yourclomid.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/yourclomid.com\/world-news\/pumpkin-smashing-priest-sorry-for-vandalising-village-kids-halloween-display\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pumpkin smashing priest \u2018sorry\u2019 for vandalising village kids\u2019 Halloween display - yourclomid.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Czech village priest who went on a Halloween-hating rampage smashing pumpkins designed by children has apologised. 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