Catholic League president William Donohue commented on the way certain religious figures are being depicted this Halloween:
“There are at least a dozen Internet sites that are selling particularly offensive priest and nun costumes for Halloween. The man dressed as a priest is shown with an erection, and the nun is shown in full habit holding her pregnant stomach; they are sold together. The inscription on the ad for the priest costume says, ‘Keep Up The Faith’; the nun ad says, ‘Thank You, Father!’
“Both items are made by Easter Unlimited, Inc./Funworld, a Long Island outlet. Harvey Cohen, the store official whom we spoke to today, would not comment on whether the company, run by Stanley Geller, carries offensive rabbi or imam costumes. It is being sold in stores across the nation, and an El Paso TV station (KVIA) did a story on it.
“Meanwhile, school officials of the Puyallup School District near Tacoma, Washington, have banned Halloween because some of the costumes might be offensive to witches. Area members of the Wiccan religion did not ask school officials to cancel Halloween, though one local Wiccan high priestess did say that witch costumes were stereotypical. She also said that outfits depicting ‘perverted priests, sexy nuns [and] drunken Irishmen’ were stereotypical. Tony Apostle, the assistant superintendent, said that school officials objected to ‘such inappropriate stereotyping’ as ‘witches on flying brooms’ and witches with ‘long noses and pointed hats.’ Another school official said it was important not to offend ‘real witches.’
“To top things off, the Seattle Times editorialized that a better decision would have been to ban witch outfits, but to allow others. It did not say whether costumes that depicted priests with erections, pregnant nuns, perverted priests, sexy nuns or drunken Irishmen should also be banned.
“We hope all Catholics get the message.”
