Venezuelan dictator decrees Oct. 1 to be start of Christmas season: Church responds

[sl8]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/259103/venezuelan-dictator-decrees-oct-1-to-be-start-of-christmas-season-church-responds

Venezuelan dictator decrees Oct. 1 to be start of Christmas season: Church responds

By Andrés Henríquez
Caracas, Venezuela, Sep 5, 2024 / 07:00 am

“This year, in homage and gratitude to you, I am going to decree that the Christmas season [begins] on Oct. 1,” declared Nicolás Maduro, leader of the ruling socialist regime in Venezuela, Sept. 2 on national television.

“For everyone, Christmas has arrived with peace, happiness, and security,” Maduro added. According to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, this is not the first time the socialist regime has done this, as in 2019, 2020, and 2021 it also decreed the “advance” of the Christmas season.

[...]

Through a statement posted on Instagram Sept. 3, the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference (CEV, by its Spanish acronym) reacted to Maduro’s decree to move up the start of the Christmas season, stating that this Christian holy day “should not be used for propaganda or particular political purposes.”

“Christmas is a celebration of a universal nature that commemorates the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The manner and time of its celebration are the responsibility of the ecclesiastical authority, which ensures that the true spirit and meaning of this event of spiritual and historical richness is maintained, as it marks the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” the CEV emphasized.

[...]

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

[PJMcK]

1. This is nonsense

It’s the kind of stupid crap we can expect from a second Trump term.

Why make just Christmas early? Why not decree that all holidays should be celebrated every day?

This is the perfect illustration of the BS that comes from dictators.

[Voltaire2]

3. Yeah everyone knows Christmas starts Nov 1

after you can’t sell anymore Halloween merch.

[lapfog_1]

4. he moves the date

in an effort to have the populace move on from the election and into "the season of peace and happiness"... i.e. "please be peaceful and happy that I stole the election to remain in power"

[Igel]

8. With, for government folk,

a decent number of days off and a Xmas bonus early this year. "Thanks for your support. Keep up the good work, judges, security forces, poll workers. Well done, my good and faithful servants." Oh--and those working for state media, the arbiters of Truth and providers of censorship and protecting the democracy from the evils of potentially false information. Can't trust the population in a True Democracy.

[Scrivener7]

2. WTF?

[marble falls]

5. Guys got some stroke - the Dairy Queen here in Marble Falls has it's fully decorated Christmas Tree set up ...

... across from the counter. They took down the Thanks Giving decorations on Labor day - which they celebrated on the Fourth. They're taking the Valentine's Day stuff out of storage next week.

[Igel]

9. That's retail--they want to sell before the actual day/date.

The day after Labor Day I was going to work in the morning (at 6 am) and noticed that some of my neighbors had put up Halloween decorations already.

Great, 59 days of Giant Spider, bats, and fake tombstones.

[tanyev]

6. "It came without ribbons! It came without tags!"

"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store."
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

[4lbs]

7. South Park - S00E02 The Spirit of Christmas - Jesus vs. Santa Claus

I saw it in the early 1990s, and it is still great