GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- Santa Claus may bring lots of joy and toys to children around the world, but as far as the Catholic Church in Guadalajara is concerned, he's a fat drunk.
St. Nicholas, from whom Santa Claus evolved, was a generous man of wealth who began with anonymous acts of charity and later became a miracle-working bishop and the protector of orphans, widows and sailors."What happened to the bishop?" the Archdiocese of Guadalajara's Semanario newspaper asked Sunday -- the day before the festival of St. Nicholas -- in an article titled "Santa Claus, the Usurper."
"What happened to his miter . . . his sacred vestments and his consecrated hands blessing the devoted?" it asked.
Today, he is represented "as a fat clown, with the chapped cheeks of a heavy beer drinker, the big stomach of a bon vivant, the nose of a drunk" and the "boots of a gendarme," the article said.
The newspaper lamented the fact that now many children don't direct their letters to the Christ child, but to Santa Claus.
But while he may barely resemble the St. Nicholas of long ago, Santa Claus still embodies the saint's spirit for 7-year-old Pablo Gonzales. Santa Claus is "a good man who gives us an example to follow because he behaves well and gives presents to kids," Pablo said at a Guadalajara toy store.
The archdiocese also might be encouraged by the words of Samuel Nunez, a 10-year-old pottery vendor in Guadalajara's Morelos Park. Santa Claus "brings gifts to the (American) kids, but for us it is the Christ Child who gives us gifts," Samuel said. "I think it's bad that Santa Claus wants to take the place of the Christ child."