Posted on 04/02/2002 10:21:37 AM PST by Exigence
Sunday Times of London
March 31, 2002
Pope gives blessing to a patron saint of Harry Potters
BLESS you, Harry Potter. Thanks to Pope John Paul II, Harry will soon have a patron saint to turn to when spells threaten to go horribly wrong, writes John Follain.
The Pope is planning to name Saint Don Bosco, a 19th-century Italian priest with a passion for magic, as the patron saint of conjurers, magicians and wizards.
The idea is the brainchild of Father Silvio Mantelli, a bespectacled priest and magician who boasts the stage name Mago Sales and has devoured all of J K Rowling’s Harry Potter books. He likes to celebrate mass wearing a clown’s plastic red nose.
During a papal audience in January, Mantelli gave the Pope a magic wand from India. “I asked whether he would be willing to name a patron saint for magicians and wizards and I suggested Don Bosco. The Pope told me this would be a way of spreading peace and wonder in the world,” Mantelli said.
A month later the Vatican wrote to him confirming that the Pope had given his seal of approval.
Don Bosco was born near Turin in 1815. As a child he watched visiting performers in his village piazza and developed an interest in magic from them. His repertoire included making rabbits disappear and finding coins in a loaf of bread.
Not all Catholic officials are convinced of the benefits of magic. Last December Father Gabriele Amorth, the church’s best-known exorcist, said Harry Potter was inspired by the devil.
Mantelli has few doubts that the saint would watch over the fortunes of the young wizard. “Harry is a force for good, there’s no satanism in there at all,” he said. “The books inspire me, although Potter’s is a world of fantasy. I have to use a trick or two in my line of work, but I can’t perform miracles.”
Forbidden in the Bible, and an abomination before God.
The Pope is planning to name Saint Don Bosco the patron saint of conjurers, magicians and wizards.
I thought he was the patron saint of chocolate syrup.
Father Silvio Mantelli ... likes to celebrate mass wearing a clown’s plastic red nose.Father, with your nose so bright,
I found the Times article in the archives, and it is dated the 31st, so it isn't an April Fool's joke.
One think no note about magic vs magik. The first is an performance art. It is really the art of illusion and recognized as such. There is no conflict with this and Christianity.
However the second, the conjurering of spells, praying to evil spirits, summoning of spirits is the magik that the bible is refering to.
The Pope is planning to name Saint Don Bosco, a 19th-century Italian priest with a passion for magic, as the patron saint of conjurers, magicians and wizards...
“I asked whether he would be willing to name a patron saint for magicians and wizards and I suggested Don Bosco. The Pope told me this would be a way of spreading peace and wonder in the world,” Mantelli said.
Just when you thought the Vatican II crowd couldn't stoop any lower. Now we are making patron saints of satan worshippers. I am beginning to wonder whether the snake handlers have a point about the Catholic Church...
But the denigration of this great saint by tarring his name with practitioners of the black arts is revolting.
He was known for his ability to integrate school lessons with diversions such as juggling and tricks of the "oh-there's-a-quarter-behind-your-ear" variety.
He would be horrified to learn that this Mass-mocking priest was trying to link his name to evil acts like necromancy, soothsaying, conjuring, etc.
Of course, individuals like Mantelli have a long history of making up stories about papal audiences and encounters.
Folks: IT'S STAGE ILLUSIONISTS...ENTERTAINERS! Not "Harry Potter's!"
SHEESSSSSSH!
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