The bishop of Noto in Sicily stunned schoolchildren last week when he dropped a bombshell during an arts festival — telling them Father Christmas wasn't real.
"No, Santa Claus does not exist. In fact, I would add that the red of the suit he wears was chosen by Coca Cola exclusively for advertising purposes," Antonio Staglianò told the children, according to Sicilian media.
However, after the bishop's comments went viral, the Diocese of Noto posted an apology on its Facebook page, written by Staglianò's press secretary Father Alessandro Paolini. Paolini said the bishop's aim was to"reflect on the meaning of Christmas and the beautiful traditions that accompany it with greater awareness and"regain the beauty of a Christmas now increasingly 'commercial' and 'de-Christianized.'"
Staglianò also revisited the comments in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica published Friday, saying,"I didn't tell them that Santa Claus doesn't exist, but we talked about the need to distinguish what is real from what is not."
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