Harry Potter, L’Osservatore Romano, & Michael D. O'Brien

Harry Potter expert criticizes Vatican newspaper’s glowing review of Deathly Hallows 2

Update: Another expert opinion on Harry Potter

Expert agrees with pope on the harmful effect of Harry Potter

An expert in English literature, Edoardo Rialti, has written in the Vatican newspaper to support the current pope assertion that the blockbuster Harry Potter series has a detrimental spiritual impact on young Christian minds.

'HP' News Items:

Benedict XVI's Pep Talk; A Potter Betrayal

Wizard waves a rainbow flag

Renewed calls for ban on 'Harry Potter' over witchcraft, homosexuality

Can't Rowling just be quiet?

That's the way it works in fiction. Characters tell their creators who they are and what they're going to do, not the other way round. Any novel worth reading "gets away" from the writer, with characters doing and saying things that may be completely contrary to the author's intentions.

[snip]

At a later point in the Carnegie Hall event, Rowling said, "The Potter books in general are a prolonged argument for tolerance, a prolonged plea for an end to bigotry, and I think it's one of the reasons some people don't like the books."

Anyone who has read the books with pleasure, as I have, knows this to be true. Prejudice runs like an evil spell through the series, with Muggles and wizards looking down on one another, while elves are forced into virtual domestic slavery, and other magical creatures — giants, centaurs — are pushed to the margins of existence by the dominant group. Rowling's satirical intent is clear.

Halloween and Harry Potter

US Christian Groups React Strongly to Harry Potter Books’ Homosexual Character

Catholic School Bans Harry Potter Books

The full story: Man from ministry bans Potter

St. Joseph's pastor, the Rev. Ron Barker, removed the books, declaring that the themes of witchcraft and sorcery were inappropriate for a Catholic school.

"He said that he thought most children were strong enough to resist the temptation," said one mother who asked that her name not be used because she did not want her family to be singled out. "But he said it's his job to protect the weak and the strong."

YEA GOD!

Want to send an uplifting note to Fr. Ron Barker at St. Joseph's Parish(Wakefield, MA)?

Email Us

Thank you Fr. Barker from all mothers! GOD Bless you, your school, and parish!

More on Harry Potter

Vicar calls for Harry Potter debate

However, Mr Logan is concerned that the books' setting in the world of witchcraft could be detrimental to any Christian message.

"The Potter epic encourages kids to be curious in an area that God forbids," he said. "It is also an encouragement to the vulnerable and under-age to learn more of paganism and the occult, which have a track record of emotional and spiritual damage."

Don’t Be Fooled – The Final Harry Potter Book Still Teaches Witchcraft

Mexico conference, exorcism experts not Harry Potter fans

Mexico Exorcist Slams Harry Potter

Potter may help the devil: Mexican priest

Some "HP" postings

Catholic mother: no good comes from Harry Potter

Judging Harry Potter

Harry Potter Fanatics Lash Out at Pope, Michael O'Brien, LifeSite ...

Michael D. O'Brien on latest "HP" book

Finally, a breath of fresh air...SANITY!

Harry Potter and “the Death of God”

Without neglecting the valid point that good fiction need not be overtly Christian, need not be religious at all, we might ponder a little the fact that the central metaphor and plot engines of the series are activities (witchcraft and sorcery) absolutely prohibited by God. We might also consider for a moment the fact that no sane parents would give their children books which portrayed a set of “good” pimps and prostitutes valiantly fighting a set of “bad” pimps and prostitutes, and using the sexual acts of prostitution as the thrilling dynamic of the story. By the same token we should ask ourselves why we continue to imbibe large doses of poison in our cultural consumption, as if this were reasonable and normal living, as if the presence of a few vegetables floating in a bowl of arsenic soup justifies the long-range negative effects of our diet.

Thank you Michael O'Brien!

The saddest commentary, I believe, is that there are so many adults and children that have spent so much time reading these books...why not read scripture or read about the lives of the saints?

Indeed, even by loving our enemies—at least by trying to learn to love them, and by believing that it is right to do so. With grace this is possible. But selective love (coupled with selective hatred) does not lead to freedom. It is the feelings of love without the substance of love, the feelings of freedom without the foundations of freedom. If God is the absent father—or the father who perhaps never existed—the hero and his readers are left only with such emotions, their hooked loyalties, their love of the self’s insatiable appetites, which they feel cannot be denied without a killing curse of self-annihilation. That is why so many people cling fiercely to the “values” in the Potter books while ignoring the interwoven undermining of those very values. That is why the defenders of Potterworld exhibit such adamancy, frequently outrage, against critics. According to their perceptions, the critics of Potterworld are the enemies of freedom and identity.

Our prayers continue for all to hear HIS TRUTH!

"HP" in Iran

Persian Translation Of Fake "Harry Potter" Hits Iran's Bookstores

More warnings on H. Potter

Author: 'Pottermania' spells trouble - Warns real occultism permeates popular children's books

Riitta Leinonen, noted witchcraft expert and owner of "Hexeria" affirms that the books have pushed the once-occult practice into the entertainment sphere. "The Harry Potter phenomenon shows that there are also positive, and not only malicious, forces in sorcery and that innocent magic can be a good thing," she said. "Witchcraft is benefiting from the Harry Potter effect."

[snip]

But while children may be Potter's targets, they're not the only takers. One highly visible adult internet witchcraft school credits Rowling as a promoter of Wicca in a press release, stating, "Harry Potter has rekindled interest in beliefs that were already growing in the United Kingdom and United States for more than fifty years, and that belief is a faith called Wicca."

Need I say more?! Protect your children! and YOUR FAITH!

Do you have your summer reading yet?

***REMINDERS: Vatican's Chief Exorcist Repeats Condemnation of Harry Potter Novels

"You start off with Harry Potter, who comes across as a likeable wizard, but you end up with the Devil. There is no doubt that the signature of the Prince of Darkness is clearly within these books."

Harry Potter and the Paganization of Children's Culture- Michael D. O'Brien

Harry Potter Gets Vatican’s Blessing?--very telling...please read!

I just found mine....look what Our Sunday Visitor is promoting:

"What every (Muggle)Catholic family needs to know about"....
(Get ready...hold on to your lounge chair by the pool!)

The Mystery of Harry Potter: A Catholic Family Guide

**Forgive me...I missed this one...(my brain is...on empty-almost = )

The Mystery of Harry

"will help guide your family through a fully enjoyable, and even educational, experience of Harry Potter. At only $12.95, you can't afford not to!"

AHHHH!!!!!

Scarier stuff "Amnesty-Bill Horror #2 - "What the Catholic Church Teaches Immigration"-from Most Rev. Wenski (Florida-Bishop of the Diocese of Orlando)

I have the brochure and I'm wayyyyy toooo tired to go through it tonight. And of course, it was not helpful reading, on Sunday, after Mass (found it in the vestibule)....oh well...