It must be jealousy at work here - Potter is more popular than the Roman Catholic Church, perhaps?
POPE'S TOP EXORCIST SAYS HARRY POTTER IS 'KING OF DARKNESS'
WebPosted Sun, 03 Sep 2006 14:16:40
---Pope Benedict XVI's chief exorcist, Rev. Gabriele Amorth, has
called fictional wizard-in-training Harry Potter the "king of
darkness, the devil."
Amorth made the statement about the star of the best-selling children's
series by British author J. K. Rowling during an interview with Vatican
Radio during the week.
"Magic is always a turn to the devil," said the Roman Catholic priest,
according to Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.
Amorth, who is also the president of the International Association of
Exorcists, said the series contains many positive references to "the
satanic art" of magic and makes no distinction between black and
white magic.
The Harry Potter series has sold more than 300 million copies worldwide
and four of the books have been made into films.
Rowling has revealed that two main characters will die in the seventh and
last instalment, due to be published soon. It's expected to include a
showdown between the teen wizard and his malevolent nemesis, Lord
Voldemort.
"A price has to be paid, we are dealing with pure evil here," Rowling
said during a British chat show interview.
Amorth compared the Potter character to dictators Stalin and Hitler,
saying they were possessed by the devil.
"You can tell by their behavior and their actions, from the horrors they
committed and the atrocities that were committed on their orders. That's
why we need to defend society from demons," said Amorth, who has
reportedly performed 30,000 exorcisms.
Pope also slammed Potter
Amorth's criticisms of Potter weren't the first to emerge from
the Catholic Church, which has never been a fan of the series.
Benedict voiced his disapproval of the character and series before he
became Pope in April 2005.
Then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, he wrote a supportive letter
in 2005 to the author of a book Harry Potter - Good or Evil? In it,
sociologist Gabriele Kuby had argued that Harry Potter series distorts
young people's ideas about the battle of good versus evil.
"It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter because those
are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort
Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly," Ratzinger told
Kuby in his letter.
Copyright (C) 2006 CBC. All rights reserved.
5 comments:
OHHHHH how typical of THE CHURCH to criticize thinking for oneself, having imagination....what a horrible sin! GRRR That makes me so angry, it's no wonder the only time I want to go to mass is at Christmas, when it's all about a HAPPY thing, instead of 'you all are sinners, pay for your sins, and pay for the sins of your fathers, and the rest of your ancestors'....UGH sickening
So far, all tests have been passed, no flunking YET
YAY! and also, wow, good rant!
Um... seriously... I don't think that the Roman Catholic Church is acting out of spite because Harry Potter is "more popular."
The Church has an obligation to protect people from things that can hurt the soul.
Now, I've read a couple of the Harry Potters, and I didn't see anything in them that was objectionable... However... black magic is a very serious and bad thing for people to get mixed up in because it uses demonic influences to make things happen.
If this priest exorcist feels like the HP books portray black magic but do not warn about it's detrimental effects to the soul... then he has every right to warn people about these books.
It's not jealousy... it's protecting those who don't know any better.
I just thought the article was funny. I find these extreme reactions to the book hilarious, because they are fiction, written by a writer who is Christian and has said she herself doesn't believe in magic--it is just a story she wanted to tell. And the previous Pope endorsed them as telling a good story about the struggle between good and evil. By the way, Kathleen, I have that other thing I was going to send you typed up, so be on the lookout!
Okay, the whole thing about it being jealousy was a JOKE! Seriously, black magic? seriously? Okay, Ramee, I got it and it's hilarious and I'm so going to post it when I get a chance!
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