Politics
Friday February 7, 2003
WORLD MEDIA FALSELY TRUMPET POPE'S APPROVAL OF HARRY POTTER
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VATICAN, February 7, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "Pope Approves Potter" headlined the Toronto Star, the BBC rendered it "Pope Sticks Up for Potter Books", and the Chicago Sun Times bellowed, "Harry Potter Is Ok With The Pontiff." Has Pope John Paul II actually become a fan of J.K Rowling's boy-witch tale, which Rome's chief exorcist insinuated was inspired by Satan? No, journalistic license has been rampant on this one.
At a Vatican press conference to present a study document on the New Age drawn up by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, one of the presenters - Fr. Peter Fleetwood - made a positive comment on the Harry Potter books in response to a question from a reporter.
Rev. Fleetwood, apparently a Potter fan, said, "If I have understood well the intentions of Harry Potter's author, they help children to see the difference between good and evil And she is very clear on this." He said Rowling is "Christian by conviction, is Christian in her mode of living, even in her way of writing."
The resulting press coverage proclaiming Vatican approval for Harry Potter far outstripped the coverage given to the actual document on the New Age. In French, Spanish, Italian, German, English, and even Turkish, and from Italy to Australia and Canada to South Africa headlines proclaimed "Vatican okays Harry Potter" (News24, South Africa), "Vatican: Harry Potter's OK with us" (CNN Asia), "Vatican gives blessing to Harry Potter" (Scotsman), "VATICAN JUST WILD ABOUT HARRY" (Barrie Examiner, Canada).
Despite the massive coverage for this off the cuff remark, the world media scarcely gave any coverage to a more official statement from Rome on the Potter series. In early December 2001, Rome's official exorcist, Fr. Gabriele Amorth, warned parents against the Harry Potter book series. The priest, who is also the president of the International Association of Exorcists, said Satan is behind the works. In an interview with the Italian ANSA news agency, Rev. Amorth said "Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil."
The exorcist, with his decades of experience in directly combating evil, explained that J.K. Rowling's books contain innumerable positive references to magic, "the satanic art". He noted that the books attempt to make a false distinction between black and white magic, when in fact, the distinction "does not exist, because magic is always a turn to the devil." Rev. Amorth also criticized the disordered morality presented in Rowling's works, noting that they suggest that rules can be contravened and lying is justified when they work to one's benefit.
See LifeSite's Harry Potter controversy coverage:
http://www.lifesite.net/features/harrypotter/
See one typical piece of media coverage:
Pope sticks up for Potter books
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_2722000/2722445.stm
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