Daily Mail UK
By WILLIAM COLE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:
A Catholic Bishop has been forced to apologies to outraged parents after telling a group of children that Santa Claus does not exist.
The Roman Catholic diocese of Noto in Sicily insisted that Bishop Antonio Stagliano did not mean to dash the dreams of youngsters two weeks before Christmas.
Communications director, the Rev Alessandro Paolino, posted on the Italian diocese’s social media said Mr Stagliano was trying to underline the true meaning of Christmas and the story of St Nicholas, a bishop who gave gifts to the poor and was persecuted by a Roman emperor.