Posted on 07/15/2005 6:23:30 AM PDT by pa mom
The Pope believes the Harry Potter books "distort Christianity in the soul", according to two letters published on the internet.
The comments were made to a German author who wrote Harry Potter - Good or Evil? which criticises J K Rowling's best-selling series.
Gabriele Kuby sent Pope Benedict XVI a copy of the book in 2003, when he was still a cardinal, and the pontiff's replies have now been published.
"It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter because these are subtle seductions which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly," wrote the Pope.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
JK Rowling is the Debil!
Oy vey!
Maybe a copy of "The Truth About Hillary" would really make his day...if he wants to deal with Christianity versus the devil !!!
Sort of my thought all along.
What's his opinion on "The Mad Scientists Club"?
Maybe not... check out this post.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1441735/posts?page=755#755
Despite the fact that this has been posted about a zillion times, it's not entirely accurate.
Some more info here, for anyone interested:
http://catholicinsider.com/scripts/hp_transcript.php
I certainly hope that's true! Thanks for the info.
"[N]o offense, the lady who complained to the then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger about Joanna Rowling's popular series back in 2003, may not have quite understood a very British sense of humour".* * * * *
I was sent a letter from a lady in Germany who claimed to have written to the then cardinal Ratzinger, saying that she thought Harry Potter was a bad thing. And the letter back, which I suspect was written by an assistent of the then cardinal Ratzinger in his office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggested that there was a subtle seduction in the books. What that subtle seduction was, was not specified, which makes me think it was a generic answer. And she had written a book on these subjects and so the Cardinal's signature was at the bottom of the letter, suggesting she should send me the book.
"I suspect the letter back was written by an assistant of the then cardinal Ratzinger."
She sent me the book, and I found it a very unsatisfactory book. I don't think she understands English humour. For example, she said: one sign that these books are making fun of Judaism and Christianity is that Voldemort, the wicked magician, who is the great evil power against whom Harry Potter has to fight, is referred to often as 'he who must not be named', and she takes this as an insult to the name of God in a similar way that Adonai, which is often written as Jawhe, is the name that should not be said in Jewish religion. Well I replied to her: don't you know that even within English families, men who make fun of their relationship with women in a nice, lighthearted way say: oh, she who should not be named, meaning the power in the house, their wife. You know, I think it was meant on that kind of level.
Read more at CatholicInsider
Thanks, I'll keep that link bookmarked for the next time this issue pops up... and it will. ~sigh~
No doubt! ;-)
IOW, if you look at the facts:
1) the Pope (when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger) apparently did not read the books, but simply sent a polite letter to Kuby that essentially said we must be careful what we let children read.
2) Monsignor Fleetwood sent a four page letter to Kuby telling her where she was off base.
3) And this is the most important: The Pope and his secretary on on vacation. The Vatican has said it will not comment.
Don't get around scripture much, eh?
Widen your search to include the words 'witch', 'witchcraft', 'sorcerer', 'wizard' and 'divination' and you get 20+ admonitions.
Actually, the Tanakh (old testament) and the New Testament both have specific condemnations of sorcery, which is treated as a form of blasphemy. The Saul incident is misleading (also, keep in mind Saul is not regarded as the best of kings; at least, far from the most morally admirable).
Moses' sorcery was not sorcery, but G-d was acting through him, according to scripture. He was empowered by the Lord. Solomon had some abilities in apocrypha, but I am not sure (in fact i think the opposite) if they were detailed in scripture.
**The Pope believes the Harry Potter books "distort Christianity in the soul",**
I am so glad this is out there!
Msgr. Fleetwood told Catholic News Service July 14 that he received a copy of the book in 2003 and wrote Kuby a four-page letter explaining where he thought she may have misunderstood or read too much into the books. He said he never heard back from her.
Well, what the Monsignor says frankly doesn't agree with the direct quote in the story.
Actually the bible is quite consistent in the old testament and the new in the view it takes toward witchcraft and sorcery...they're not good.
Mal 3:5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
Act 8:9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
Act 13:6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus: Rev 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
"Well, I had a jolly good laugh about it all. The Bible has but one admonition about the evils of sorcery, and that is the (in)famous short sketch about Saul in Endor, who consults a clairvoyant."
Don't know your Bible to well do you? Read on:
(Gal 5:19 NKJV) Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
(Gal 5:20 NKJV) idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, (Gal 5:21 NKJV) envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
(Rev 18:21 NKJV) Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.(Rev 18:22 NKJV) "The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore.(Rev 18:23 NKJV) "The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.(Rev 18:24 NKJV) "And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth."
(Rev 9:20 NKJV) But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.(Rev 9:21 NKJV) And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Deu 18:9 "When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. Deu 18:10 "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, Deu 18:11 "or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
Deu 18:12 "For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. Deu 18:13 "You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. Deu 18:14 "For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.
Acts 13:6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, Acts 13:7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. Acts 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Acts 13:9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him Acts 13:10 and said, "O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? Acts 13:11 "And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time." And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
Rev 21:7 "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. Rev 21:8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Rev 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. Rev 22:15 But outside are dogs [homosexuals] and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
There are several other passages that condemn sorcery and witchcraft, but I had to abbreviate somewhere.
OK point taken but I am not that interested in these Biblical rants which simply enumerate a list of offenses. There are many, many things in the Bible which I don't subscribe to, if only because they are enormously contradictory, or promise unfitting punishment, and are so fundamentalist that any enlightened society would reject them immediately.
You know, I know the Bible very well. So I don't bother to go googling for a list of verses which contain the word sorcery. That is not interesting. Reading the Book back to back (which I did) is much more er... enlightening.
The Creation Myth is just that: a myth. A powerful metaphor about something that simply is too difficult for human understanding. The First Nation Americans created beautiful creation myths of their own.
As I said before, Biblical heroes like King David don't impress me too much, esp. when it comes to send soldiers on a deadly mission in order to have sex with their wives. Bah.
I believe in God, but not in stories that are designed to make me admire people I wouldn't admire in real life.
The Bible and the Koran have much more in common than Joe Blow would like to admit.
I'm beginning to think that this pope lacks "gravitas."
Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
Psa 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psa 1:3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
Psa 1:4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Psa 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Psa 1:6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
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Harry Potter distorts the soul, says Pope
Pope Opposes Harry Potter Novels - Signed Letters from Cardinal Ratzinger Now Online
Benedict XVI-New Pope Hits Out at Harry Potter Books
Harry Potter and the Chair of Peter (Lead us not into temptation has meaning to Benedict XVI.)
Links to the scanned copies of the two signed letters by Cardinal Ratzinger (in German) - In PDF format:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005_docs/ratzingerlet...
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005_docs/ratzingerper...
See LifeSite's Harry Potter resource section at:
http://www.lifesite.net/features/harrypotter/
Pope Benedict Opposes Harry Potter Novels
http://www.lifesite.net/features/harrypotter/obrienpotter.html
:~)
This has been debunked. There are a couple of threads already on the Pope and Potter.
"Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of darkness, the devil."--Fr. Gabrielle Amorth
President of the International Association of Exorcists
A word to the wise.
Good, right up my alley, then.
It seems very unlikely to me that the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the old office of the Inquisition), who was well aware of the Potter controversy at the time this letter was written, would have issued such a grave warning as a form letter.
A form letter would have stated something like, "thank you for submitting your critique of Harry Potter. You have obviously worked hard on it." Etc.
Maybe that's why he is a "former" Vatican official.
The pope is against potter.
Fine.
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