Posted on 07/13/2005 12:49:13 AM PDT by dsc
Pope Opposes Harry Potter Novels - Signed Letters from Cardinal Ratzinger Now Online
RIMSTING, Germany, July 13, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - LifeSiteNews.com has obtained and made available online copies of two letters sent by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was recently elected Pope, to a German critic of the Harry Potter novels. 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 Gabriele Kuby outlining his agreement with her opposition to J.K. Rowling's offerings. (See below for links to scanned copies of the letters signed by Cardinal Ratzinger.)
As the sixth issue of Rowling's Harry Potter series - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - is about to be released, the news that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger expressed serious reservations about the novels is now finally being revealed to the English-speaking world still under the impression the Vatican approves the Potter novels.
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?), in which Kuby says the Potter books corrupt the hearts of the young, preventing them from developing a properly ordered sense of good and evil, thus harming their relationship with God while that relationship is still in its infancy.
"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.
The letter also encouraged Kuby to send her book on Potter to the Vatican prelate who quipped about Potter during a press briefing which led to the false press about the Vatican support of Potter. At a Vatican press conference to present a study document on the New Age in April 2003, one of the presenters - Fr. Peter Fleedwood - made a positive comment on the Harry Potter books in response to a question from a reporter. Headlines such as "Pope Approves Potter" (Toronto Star), "Pope Sticks Up for Potter Books" (BBC), "Harry Potter Is Ok With The Pontiff" (Chicago Sun Times) and "Vatican: Harry Potter's OK with us" (CNN Asia) littered the mainstream media.
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."
The most prominent Potter critic in North America, Catholic novelist and painter Michael O'Brien commented to LifeSiteNews.com on the "judgement" of now-Pope Benedict saying, "This discernment on the part of Benedict XVI reveals the Holy Father's depth and wide ranging gifts of spiritual discernment." O'Brien, author of a book dealing with fantasy literature for children added, "it is consistent with many of the statements he's been making since his election to the Chair of Peter, indeed for the past 20 years - a probing accurate read of the massing spiritual warfare that is moving to a new level of struggle in western civilization. He is a man in whom a prodigious intellect is integrated with great spiritual gifts. He is the father of the universal church and we would do well to listen to him."
English translations of the two letters by Cardinal Ratzinger follow:
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger Vatican City March 7, 2003
Esteemed and dear Ms. Kuby!
Many thanks for your kind letter of February 20th and the informative book which you sent me in the same mail. 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.
I would like to suggest that you write to Mr. Peter Fleedwood, (Pontifical Council of Culture, Piazza S. Calisto 16, I00153 Rome) directly and to send him your book.
Sincere Greetings and Blessings,
+ Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
=======================
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger Vatican City May 27, 2003
Esteemed and dear Ms. Kuby,
Somehow your letter got buried in the large pile of name-day , birthday and Easter mail. Finally this pile is taken care of, so that I can gladly allow you to refer to my judgment about Harry Potter.
Sincere Greetings and Blessings,
+ Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
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/ratzingerletter.pdf http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005_docs/ratzingerpermission.pdf
jhw
Riiiggghht. Kids playing wizards and goblins will allow evil to enter their hearts. And kids playing cowboys and indians will lead them to accepting whoring and drinking (for the cowboys) and paganism (for the indians).
Where do they find you people?
Stories only have as much power as you letthem have.
God does work by miracles, which to a casual observer would be PERCEIVED as magic...
Do you also "know" that the earth was created in 6 days in 4004 BC?
the supernatural is real, that demons do exist and do give people corrupting powers.
What sorts of powers? Wouldn't they have military applications? Why haven't they been used on a large scale?
In addition to the occult problems, the Harry Potter stories also encourage children to be disrespectful. To trust in themselves and their own powers, as opposed to trusting in higher authority
Yep, we can't have people questioning authority. That could lead to rational thinking and self-reliance. Just shut up and do what the wise leaders say, and nobody gets hurt.
What isn't being taught is the fact that we have no powers of our own, including the power to reason. We get it from God or we get it from the Devil. Humans cannot decide right or wrong for themselves
Speak for yourself. I know that murder is wrong, and I didn't need God to tell me that. And if we are incapable of deciding between right and wrong on our own, how are we to determine that we should follow God and reject Satan?
Such silly supersition is one of the many reasons why I do not take Christianity (and all other organized religions) seriously.
To trust in themselves and their own powers, as opposed to trusting in higher authority (for example, Almighty God).
Another point in Harry Potter's favor, then. I'll make sure to buy some HP novels for my niece when she gets older.
What isn't being taught is the fact that we have no powers of our own, including the power to reason.
Nonsense.
We get it from God or we get it from the Devil.
Nonsense concepts created by bronze age primitives.
Humans cannot decide right or wrong for themselves, that's the sin Adam and Eve committed.
Primitive desert nomad creation myth.
Humans cannot positively influence the world around them with "magic" on their own power, it comes from a supernatural source, God or Satan.
There is no such thing as magic.
Of course! So he is learning with ":Dinosaur Day" and will have whatever the fun stuff is at whatever level he reads at...
***When these threads start I always feel a bit torn.***
You bring up many good points.
I find myself in a similar position. If evolution is the atheistic state's book of Genesis then science fiction seems to be it's book of Revelation - whether it be a heavenly utopia or a lake of fire dystopia.
Though Lewis did show how SF could be put to good use.
I agree. One has to make a number of assumptions to figure out what Ratzinger might have been saying here.
I've stayed away from this topic recently (but I always appreciate getting pinged to it) because those who read these books seem to enjoy them so much and get so ornery when anyone challenges their pleasure.
I can understand that. I still enjoy Halloween.
But IMO an accurate understanding of the Harry Potter books can be reached only by understanding the Theosophical roots that permeate every page of these books.
Even the term "Harry Potter" was once a colloquialism for the Devil himself. The books are filled with occultic terms and scenarios.
Vlabatsky/Blavatsky
When one understands the roots of Theosophy and its many incarnations past and present, you can't help but realize you're being subliminally swayed to be positively conditioned to its influence.
What child who's read HP will read the name Helen Blavatsky at some future date and not be quite as repulsed as he should be by the name of this anti-Christian occultist?
Indeed, that's the very point of these books.
And just as surely as water flows downhill, making ever-larger mud puddles, the next edition of HP gives up the game completely just by its title -- "Half-Blood Brother".
Like all occultists/theosophists/universalists the key to the boy Harry Potter's strength lies IN HIS BLOOD.
Where have we heard that one before? From the organization that used as its symbol the same "Lightning Bolt" that Harry Potter proudly displays on his forehead.
Two internet sites which were the first-up on google clearly explain the massive subtext to these "children's" books.
Harry Potter and the AntiChrist
and
As Martin Luther warned: "The devil plagues and torments us in the place where we are most tender and weak. In Paradise, he fell not upon Adam, but upon Eve."
So then our responsibility is to protect our most precious earthly gifts, our children, from whatever forces seek to mislead, misinform and ultimately destroy them.
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." -- Proverbs 22:6
You're wrong on all of this, and I'll reply in depth once I get done at work.
Do you have any info on the book given to Ratzinger that apparently influenced him in his negative opinion of HP?
That's why the wife and I do our best to keep them away from the misinformed zealots who would burn Harry Potter...
Reading the back cover of my copy of the book, I see Abanes is a member of Saddleback. LOL. God's sense of humor strikes once again. 8~)
"...for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." -- Matthew 16:17
Have you read anything by Helena Blavatsky? Or the links I sent you? Because I've read the HP books and the links. It makes conversations easier to know both sides.
Unless you've got a bonfire planned for midnight Friday, I didn't call you any names either.
And no, I haven't (and will not) read the information you sent.
I can't afford the tin foil.
Have you read anything by Helena Blavatsky? Or the links I sent you? Because I've read the HP books and the links. It makes conversations easier to know both sides.
I think Ratzinger is correct on this...
"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."
Sorry for the double-post. The devil made me do it. 8~)
Somebody put a spell on your posts.
It was probably Jen. She's like that.
What's your take on the Wizard of Oz? Or fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen? How do they differ from Harry Potter?
She turned me into a newt!
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