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Italy's Largest Catholic Weekly Praises Potter, Omits Pope Benedict's former Criticism

By John-Henry Westen

ROME, April 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Italy's largest Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana, a publication of the religious order known as the Paulists, has published a lengthy article in praise of Harry Potter.  The article is by Massimo Introvigne, the director of CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions in Italy, and one of the foremost Catholic apologists for the Potter series which has been a cause of controversy among Christians since it's inception.

"There's nothing demonic there," Introvigne, reassured readers.  He said that fears that the Potter books could open people to the occult came from "fundamentalists".  Conveniently for him, Introvigne failed to mention the fact that Pope Benedict XVI, prior to his election to the pontificate, raised concerns about the Potter books.

Introvigne's failure to note the Pope's opposition to the Potter series was picked up by the Italian press.  Ansa News Agency reported, "Famiglia Cristiana avoided mentioning last July's media incident which supposedly highlighted concern about Harry Potter from Pope Benedict." (http://www.ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-04-20_1203060.html)

LifeSiteNews.com was the first news service to publish copies of the original letters from Cardinal Ratzinger.  In March 2003, a month after the English press throughout the world falsely proclaimed that Pope John Paul II approved of Harry Potter, the man who was to become his successor sent a letter to a German critic of the Potter novels, Gabriele Kuby, outlining his agreement with her opposition to J.K. Rowling's offerings. 

In a letter dated March 7, 2003 Cardinal Ratzinger thanked Kuby for her "instructive" book Harry Potter - gut oder böse (Harry Potter- good or 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," wrote Cardinal Ratzinger.  In a second letter sent to Kuby on May 27, 2003, Cardinal Ratzinger "gladly" gave his permission to Kuby to make public "my judgement about Harry Potter." (see coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jul/05071301.html)

Introvigne's denunciations of Potter critics also fall on another local Catholic of note.  Rev. Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's chief exorcist, has for years insisted that the Potter novels are dangerous.  In a 2002 interview, 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." (coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/jan/02010202.html)

See additional coverage:
Harry Potter and the Paganization of Children's Culture by Michael O'Brien
http://www.lifesite.net/features/harrypotter/obrienpotter.html

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