

(Waiting for relatives to arrive on Christmas Day, I have decided to take up the deep theological questions raised by this … Claus, this Santa Claus.)
Last night at the children’s Mass at our Catholic parish in Washington DC, observe the arrival of the fellow up top in the photo, dressed in a red suit, who proceeded, at the end of the service, march down the aisle loudly saying, “Ho, Ho, Ho,” and “Merry Christmas,” and who delivered a special message to the children that he would be by later that night and they should all be Very, Very Good. (Rumor has it that Tod Lindberg helped with matters, and a jolly good job too!)
But how should we understand this Santa Claus in church? Here are two possible theological accounts. I should note that I am not Catholic, and do not make any claims to deep understanding of Catholic doctrine.
The mythological, or the chief deity of sentimental capitalism. In this version, the arrival of Santa Claus is extra-religious and extra-Christian. This is the Santa Claus that got going with the ecumenical and eventually secular re-conception of Christmas. It is not precisely pagan, but it is religion stripped down to a “love one another at least in this season” core that makes it unthreatening and in a sense available to any faith. I am all for this. The way in which the great American Jewish popularizers of Christmas – Irving Berlin above all – re-interpreted Christmas and made it accessible as a sentiment to everyone was a great contribution to peace on earth, good will toward men.
This is not inconsistent with a religious understanding of Christmas, or at least it need not be thought necessarily inconsistent. The best way to think of them is as [...]