I’m not sure if the Vatican is just dense, or if this guy was paid off by J.K. Rowling’s publicists. I thought the Catholics would have some grasp of what supression does for a group of believers. (The Vatican still has a Chief Exorcist?)
“Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil,” Father Gabriele Amorth, the Pope’s “caster-out of demons”, said.
The books contained many positive references to the satanic art, falsely drawing a distinction between black and white magic, he told the Daily Mail in London. Father Amorth also said he was convinced that Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler were possessed by the devil.
So Harry Potter is kin to Stalin and Hitler? Give me a break.
They don’t like D&D either…
Theres no doubt that Harry Potter is satanic… but that other stuff he was saying sounds a bit extreme.
don’t like this pope. Once a NAZI, Always a NAZI in my book.
don’t gt me wrong thought. Pope John Paul II ROCKED!!!!
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P.S. he was ok with harry potter
Since young Mr. Potter has now been declared the bad guy, does this mean that Lord Vodemort is the good guy?!?
Just further proves how out of touch with reality the Catholic church is. Chief Exorcist indeed.
I’ve read the Harry Potter books and I’ve only had the desire to sacrifice a goat once. Ok, twice. But I don’t think the books had anything to do with that.
Christians never enjoyed competition. They took at swipe at Terry Pratchett also. I never was a big Pratchett fan but his books are funny.
Which is most harmful… the Harry Potter books or the Catholic Church?
The Vatican still has a Chief Exorcist?
Well, its not like they can just forget about all the “driving out” of demons Jesus was doing…
http://tinyurl.com/frv3f
Eddie Munster was more evil than Harry!
Eddie wrote (in blood) an award-winning composition entitled “My Parents, an Average American Family.”
We also have it on good authority (that Bishop over in the Philippines) that condoms don’t reduce the spread of HIV. Where would we all be without Popes and Bishops and Pat Robertsons to tell us what God wants? We’d probably fall for all those stupid conclusions the scientists reach on the basis of data and observation, that’s where. Scary, huh?
Its not better than the bible, both contain “magic” and mystical creatures.
Hypocrites
What about comic books and (gasp) rock and roll?
If these self-serving hypocritical mafiosa thugs er I meant the Catholic leadership is what the population of heaven will be made up of I’d much rather go the other way. Why go to heaven when all the genuinely good people aren’t going to be welcome there?
You would think these ‘pious’ people would realize that their God is able to see right thru their crap, although, God has in reality very little to do with the leadership of the church. Unless you spell God “M o n e y and P o w e r”
This coming from a church that forbids any birth control, even when it might help stop the spread of AIDS and other diseases in third world countries, Forbids its priests from endulging in the most instinctive function of any living creature (sex and procreation) yet looks the other way when these same priests molest and violate young boys. Yes in deed, this is a backwards organization.
I’m skeptical about this story. I’ve seen a similar story before, and this looks like a recycle of that one. And that one was pretty well debunked.
Many Catholics, including many priests, love the Harry Potter books and see nothing satanic about them.
As a practicing Christian (not a Catholic), I think the HP books are a marvelous allegory of the central Christian story, the death and resurrection of Christ. HP “dies” and is “resurrected” in every one of the 6 books so far.
Sounds like they have been influenced by evangelics, ever since they bitched about Spongebob EVERYONE thinks he’s gay, the same applies to the Teletubbies which is show for f*cking toddlers and that’s why they act that way.
But *sigh* the real Golden rule for Christians is: If the preacher did not invent it then it’s satanic.
There’s a good chance this is all total bullshit, so don’t get worked up over it.
#21. I would agree. I have some real doubts that anyone is the Pope’s “chief exorcist.”
Laugh all you want. When judgment day comes you will truly discover why you should listen to those who God talks to. WE know the truth. YOU don’t know…
Uuhh, mmm, sorry, wrong forum.
What sentient being would want to be Satan? What sentient being would want to be God? Are we all products of some lunatic cosmic being’s overheated imagination?
Something to think about as the chill winds moan through the darkened forest and a lonely wolf howls at the full moon.
And the Church was doing so well with their snubbing of Intellegent design in schools and their upholding of Science…damn John Paul was the best really made me belive in my relgion i openly shed tears when he died …..such a great person yet now we get the former nazi pope well i hope he develops a great legacy too
24. “Father Amorth, who works as an exorcist in the Diocese of Rome, made the comments in an interview with Vatican Radio Aug. 27.”
see, I could work as an exorcist “in” the Diocese of Rome. Note they don’t say “the Pope’s excorcist” or anything like it. And before anyone says “but the Pope is the bishop of Rome,” I would note that he works “in” the diocese not “for” the diocese. A difference as significant as working “in” the city of New York vs. “for” the City of New York.
far be it from me to doubt the Wiki, but I would want to see some real credentials before I bought him being the official exorcist for Vatican City.
the thing about the Catholic Church is that structurally, it is very loose. if you are a priest, you can pretty say whatever you feel like, without any sort of official sanction, until someone decides to slap you down.
The Devil made me do it! Excise me and let me move to another parish. Thank you, Thank you very much.
OK, let’s get this straight: the Catholic Church believes that the devil is bad and God created the universe? Where are you people getting this shocking information. Tell me it is not really true.
How could the Catholics get so far off track. I hope this is not a dominant trend. Next thing you know, the Methodists will start believing this stuff, too.
I know a lot of conservative Christians and a few years ago it was pretty common for them to express concern about Harry Potter.
I’d remind them that Harry Potter isn’t much different than Wizard of Oz. That story didn’t swell the ranks of Satanism. Neither did JRR Tolkien or even CS Lewis which also has witches, magic, etc.
So far I’ve never had anyone give me a significant reply.
@Doug #27
So “Father Gabriele Amorth, who is Pope Benedict XVI’s senior exorcist…” from the following page is not enough?
link
[edited: pls use tinyurl]
I’ve seen enough incidences of demon possession that I believe it is a real phenomenon. (“real” in the emotional and cultural sense, not empirical)
If you were standing there with me, most of you would probably agree that something “real” was happening and that it is not good for the possessed.
So, I’m not so judgmental that the Catholics sill have exorcists… especially for the churches in the developing world.
And, I might add, this isn’t just Christian. I’ve seen a fair amount of “demon possession” among Muslims and Hindus, also. Interestingly, they seem to generally recognize it as more-or-less the same thing.
I did a little research on the Web. Gabriele Amorth is indeed an exorcist, for the Archdiocese of Rome. He’s also retired, as of 6 years ago. He can speak his mind about Harry Potter, but that doesn’t mean he speaks for the Catholic Church.
I’m not a Harry Potter fan, though my wife is. Those books (and the movies) are no more satanic than Dubya’s State of the Union addresses.
The “jaw dropper” moment for my wife and I – while doing some Halloween shopping several years ago – was when a young mother with two small children came down the next isle, and we heard the woman’s son said “Mom! Look! Harry Potter”…
It floored us when the woman told her son that he couldn’t have any Harry Potter items…because: “He’s not a bad person, but he does bad things”…
By which I can only assume she meant witchcraft…:(