Why Do Italian Priests Have a Vendetta Against Santa Claus?

A New York Times article published this week begins with a superb piece of holiday theatricality. Wide-eyed children were attending Mass at a cavernous and ornate Baroque-style basilica in Sicily, and a Roman Catholic bishop was launching a crusade: “ ‘Santa Claus,’ thundered Bishop Antonio Staglianò, ‘is an imaginary character.’ ” In the speech last week, the bishop of Noto railed against Babbo Natale—the Italian Santa Claus figure, featured more heavily in the northern part of the country—and Santa’s red coat, which he said was “chosen by Coca-Cola for advertising purposes.” Perhaps the best line in the Times story came from a disgruntled teacher: She said that when one of the children protested, telling the bishop that her parents had assured her Santa was real, the cleric responded that the child should tell her parents “you tell lies.” But here’s the thing: Staglianò is not an aberration. Setting aside his tirade about Coca-Cola, the bishop complained that Santa’s real failure was his favoring of wealthier children over poorer ones. It seems that in Sicily, where the Santa Claus gift-giving tradition is a more recent import, the disparity in Santa gifts is not just in the cost of the gifts but in whether Santa makes an appearance at all; the bishop told the Times that “the poor families and migrants he visits every Christmas … ‘have never seen Santa Claus.’ ” He said he challenged the children in the pews to ask Santa “for even more gifts and, if he showed up, explain to him that they could now give to poor children ‘given that you never visit them!’ ” This message tracks with that of Pope Francis, who has long decried the burden of unregulated capitalism on the poor. And that’s all quite recent.” So while the Times reported that the children and teachers were upset after Staglianò’s anti-Santa diatribe, and while the diocese’s Facebook page apologized for “disappointment in the little ones,” it seems likely that the bishop stirred up less anger than he would have here in the U.S.