The Vatican has condemned Harry Potter!
Oh, this is not good, not good at all. The Vatican has officially condemned Harry Potter and the entire book/film series with a sweeping observation that “Harry Potter is the wrong kind of hero.” Read more:
Under the headline ‘The double face of Harry Potter’, the lengthy article concludes: “Despite the values that we come across in the narration, at the base of this story, witchcraft is proposed as a positive ideal.
“The violent manipulation of things and people comes thanks to knowledge of the occult.
“The ends justify the means because the knowledgeable, the chosen ones, the intellectuals know how to control the dark powers and turn them into good.
“This a grave and deep lie, because it is the old Gnostic temptation of confusing salvation and truth with a secret knowledge.”
“The characterisation of common men who do not know magic as ‘muggles’ who know nothing other than bad and wicked things is a truly diabolical attitude.”
The piece goes on to compare Harry Potter unfavourably with two other great British children’s classics, the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, epics both written by Christians with deeply-held beliefs.
The article, by Edoardo Rialti, a professor of literature at Florence University, said that the works of Tolkien and Lewis show “a transcendence and the beauty of the infinite.”
Harry Potter books, he said, have an “inverted and confused spirituality: a world where bad is good” and that they are characterised by a “vague, new-age philosophy”.
However, his attack was answered in a parallel article on the same page by Paolo Gulisano, the author of a book on Tolkien.
Mr Gulisano wrote of Harry Potter: “He carries the reader from the vision of a selfish man towards a vision of a man guided by moral values, the choice of good, sacrifice, friendship, love.”
The Vatican line on JK Rowling’s teenage wizard has hardened considerably since Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a hardline theologian said by some to have strong views on the Devil and exorcism, succeeded Pope John Paul II.
The latter once praised JK Rowling for leading the life of a good Christian and Holy See officials during his papacy said that Harry Potter was clearly fighting against Satanism.
But two years before he was elected Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a letter to a supporter calling the Potter story “a subtle seduction, which has deeply unnoticed and direct effects in undermining the soul of Christianity before it can really grow properly”.
A spokesman for JK Rowling declined to comment.
- source
I have to say that anyone who has really read these books knows without a shadow of a doubt that yes, there is magic, but magic is not the main story. The main story is the friendships and love that endure beyond all hope - and the magic really takes a backseat to all that. What do you think about the Vatican’s view of Harry Potter?
Tags: Harry Potter, pope-harry-potter, vatican, vatican-harry-potterRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Focus on Harry Potter
6 opinions for The Vatican has condemned Harry Potter!
M Driver
Jan 16, 2008 at 09:08
I’ve seen this story appear in a number of newspapers and websites today and I think the way it’s being presented to people is appalling. The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, printed two (please note two!!) articles, one writing in favour of Harry Potter, one against. This was a debate within the pages of the paper, as you’d find in many papers throughout the world. And yet somehow it’s been transformed into a story that says the Vatican/Pope/Catholics have condemned Harry Potter. That is not the case, and it’s very sad to see such manipulation of a story.
Aoife
Jan 16, 2008 at 11:06
OMG its only a book..it lets us dream of another magical place that we hope could be true. and this whole thing on witchcraft..i mean please! Its only fiction and i think its got a very emotional, nail biting, question asking,teary eye, lovey dover storyline too it lol =]
BOOKS ARE AMAZING…CERT!!
Katie
Jan 17, 2008 at 20:17
It’s just another way for the catholic church to control their members by telling them what they can and cannot read. It’s ridiculous.
So they say that Harry Potter seems like it’s innocent and means well, but underneath it all, it’s really evil?
Hmm, sounds a lot like a holiday that Catholics decided to take up…called…Christmas…and how in order to take part in the pagan celebration, called it the day to celebrate Jesus’ birth.
I celebrate Christmas, but I find it interesting that catholics can celebrate something that, underneath, is actually pagan, yet they can’t allow their church members to think for themselves and read what they want to read. Maybe that’s why a trilogy was written about the frightening control the catholic church has over its people. Golden Compass, anyone?
Harry Potter and the Wrath of God!
Jan 18, 2008 at 08:38
[…] you like that title, huh? Anyway, the First Post has an interesting article responding to the recent Vatican condemnation of Harry Potter. Pictures (small) below; click to […]
Tara
Apr 11, 2008 at 10:24
I agree with Katie. Obviously people who condemn J.K’s books have not read them through. Their conclusion just doesn’t make sense. I wonder if there are any actual examples they point to from the book.
connor
May 7, 2008 at 16:14
cool!
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