Christians should stop using the word Christmas because it has been hijacked by “Santa and reindeer”, an Irish Catholic priest has urged. Father Desmond O’Donnell said Christians of all denominations should realize that Christmas and Easter no longer have any sacred meaning. He told the Belfast Telegraph: “We’ve lost Christmas, just like we lost Easter, and should abandon the word completely. We
need to let it go, it’s already been hijacked and we just need to recognize and accept that. “I am simply asking that space be preserved for believers for whom Christmas has nothing to do with Santa and reindeer. “My religious experience of true Christmas, like so many others, is very deep and real – like the air I breathe. But non-believers deserve and need their celebration too, it’s an essential human dynamic and we all need that in the toughness of life. READ MORE