The Myth That Refuses to Die

BY AWAKE! WRITER IN FRANCE

CHILDREN the world over adore him. In one recent year, the French postal services received nearly 800,000 letters for him​—mainly from children between three and eight years of age. With his bushy white beard and red robe edged in white fur, the affable figure of Father Christmas (Santa Claus) seems one of the most popular aspects of the holiday festivities. Can you imagine, then, burning an effigy of him? That is precisely what took place just over 50 years ago in Dijon, France. On December 23, 1951, Father Christmas was “executed” in front of some 250 children.

What was his crime? The newspaper France-Soir reported that this execution was “decided upon with the agreement of the clergy, who had condemned Father Christmas as a usurper and heretic” and had accused him of “paganizing Christmas.” This was “a symbolic gesture,” a communiqué declared. “Falsehood cannot awaken the religious feelings of children and is in no way a method of education.”

Some clergymen felt that customs surrounding Father Christmas were turning people away from “the strictly Christian meaning” of the Nativity. Indeed, in the March 1952 issue of Les Temps Modernes (Modern Times), ethnologist Claude Lévi-Strauss called belief in Father Christmas “one of the most active hotbeds of paganism among modern man” and stated that the church was justified in denouncing this belief. Lévi-Strauss also noted that the origins of Father Christmas can be traced back to the king of the Saturnalia. The Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome from December 17 to 24. During that week, buildings were decorated with greenery and gifts were exchanged. Like Christmas, the Saturnalia was characterized by merrymaking.

Now, more than 50 years after Father Christmas was burned in effigy, how do Catholics in France view Father Christmas? This distant heir of Rome’s Saturnalia is as much a part of Christmas as is the representation of Jesus in a manger. Occasionally, a priest will denounce Santa Claus as representing a form of commercialism that takes Christ out of Christmas. For the most part, however, any scruples over the pagan roots of Father Christmas have foundered on the rocks of public acceptance.

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DR/© Cliché Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris