Politics
Friday February 7, 2003
WORLD MEDIA FALSELY TRUMPET POPE'S APPROVAL OF HARRY POTTER
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
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
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- Cardinal Rigali: You Can't Claim to be "Reducing Abortions" but Publicly Funding them in D.C.
- General Electric to Use Embryonic Stem Cells for Testing, Phase out Lab Rats
- Ohio Supreme Court Allows Planned Parenthood to Conceal Abortion Records in Sexual Abuse Case
- LifeSiteNews Canada Day and Independence Day Message. Taking a few days off. LSN returns Monday July 6
- Heroically Pro-Life Brazilian Archbishop's Resignation Accepted Under Cloud of Vatican Newspaper Misrepresentation
- Pro-Life Groups Announce New Colorado Personhood Initiative
- Judge Puts Kibosh on DC Gay "Marriage" Referendum
- Al Franken Win Hands Supermajority to Senate Democrats
- Group Funded by Canadian Bishops' D&P Joins with Others to Denounce the "Natural Family" and "Family Rights"
- Financially Troubled Planned Parenthood of El Paso Closes Doors
- Abortion Linked to Subsequent Pre-Term Births, New Research Again Confirms
- New Orleans Homosexual Couple Ask Fed. Court to Overturn Marriage Amendment
- Slim Hope Of New Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader Promoting Pro-Life, Pro-Family Issues
- Pope Accepts Resignation of Bishop Caught Involved in Homosexual Encounters
- Young Children Removed from UK Schools for "Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour"
- Northern Ireland Politician Cleared of Wrongdoing after Reiterating Christian Teaching on Homosexual Acts
- UK Conservative Leader Speaks at Gay Pride Fundraiser
- More Letters to the Editor on Canadian Catholic Development and Peace Scandal (July 1)
- Letters to the Editor - Readers Respond to Development and Peace Scandal
- Watch This Dramatic New Video on Catholic Bishops Conference Funding of Pro-Abortion Groups
Most Read this Week
- Homosexual Duke U. Director Charged with Offering Adopted 5-Year-Old for Sex
- Famed Fr. Corapi Calls Canadian Bishops' Dissent from Humanae Vitae "Catastrophic"
- Pope: It is a Childish Faith to Oppose the Church Teaching on Life and Family
- LifeSiteNews Detailed Response to Canadian Bishops' Whitewash Report on Development and Peace
- Heroically Pro-Life Brazilian Archbishop's Resignation Accepted Under Cloud of Vatican Newspaper Misrepresentation
- Young Children Removed from UK Schools for "Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour"
- Is Pro-Choice the New Pro-Life?
- General Electric to Use Embryonic Stem Cells for Testing, Phase Out Lab Rats
- Swedish Parents Won't Tell if Child is Boy or Girl as Gender Experiment
- Cardinal Rigali: You Can't Claim to be "Reducing Abortions" but Publicly Funding them in D.C.
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.