Pope-on-Dope declares Potter as the root of all evil

[Jon Lyrik]

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

---

I don't think some guy from the Hitler Youth and who does nothing to stop the cover-ups of priests who fuck 12-year old altar boys in the ass should be declaring morality on 1 billion people, including most of my family. It just seems incongruent.

[Shockwave]

Moron.

Thats all i have to say.

[BorderEevilIII]

who da fuk care what HE thinks :rolleyes:
He can go suck on his cardinal hat for all I care :D

[chinton]

is this a joke/ it hurts my head

[Skysaber]

Originally posted by Shockwave
Moron.

Thats all i have to say.

As are you.

[Shockwave]

Sorry, ive seen some REAL evils in the world. Rapists. Murderers. Child molesters. Terrorists. ect. ect.

Harry Potter isnt high on the priority list.


It gets kids to read! NOOOOOOOOO! Evil! Bad!:p

[bob]

I agree 100% with Shockwave.

[Khrys]

You just got your second supporter

[thedudeman69]

and to think the book has said to have christian themes in it. :p :rolleyes:

[bluesbrother965]

Originally posted by BorderEevilIII
who da fuk care what HE thinks :rolleyes:
He can go suck on his cardinal hat for all I care :D


I'm sure you realize this, but as the new Pope, a lot of people care what he thinks.

[James Logan]

Originally posted by Shockwave
Sorry, ive seen some REAL evils in the world. Rapists. Murderers. Child molesters. Terrorists. ect. ect.

Harry Potter isnt high on the priority list.

Amen.

Lost some respect for my new Pope there. It's because of shit like this that people (rightfully) believe that those leaders in Rome have no connection to the real world whatsoever.

[Shockwave]

Pretty much.

It takes more then a fancy hat to earn my respect, and bullshit like this doesnt deserve all the time and attention its getting. Its a waste of everyones time, but for someone like the POPE its borderline insane.

[Captain Creepy]

I don't think some guy from the Hitler Youth and who does nothing to stop the cover-ups of priests who fuck 12-year old altar boys in the ass should be declaring morality on 1 billion people, including most of my family. It just seems incongruent.

I agree. Maybe a lot of people hang on every word of the Pope but a lot of people don't. The Catholic Church is evil incarnate. They backed the Nazi's in the war and were responsible for the Salem Witch Trials and other terrible evils. Catholics are taught not to challange church doctrine or the word of the pope. If they really dug into the church history, they'd leave.

Harry Potter is a fairy tale. If one can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality they need professional help.:mad:

[ElderPredator]

Harry Potter is a chance for children to use their imaginations and that is what the Vatican and the Catholic church fear the most. They fear that children will move away from God because of it which is a plus in my opinion since I have absolutely no belief whatsoever. J.K. Rowling has created a world that allows children to feel a deep sense of happiness even in the darkest times of their lives. I love the stories and I'm 19 years old. I almost wish sometimes I could travel to Hogwart's to be a student.

So in conclusion, fuck the Vatican and fuck the Pope for their narrow minded thinking because they do not affect how I live and should have no say or control over anyone else either. I agree with all your comments above and especially the blurb on them backing the Nazi armies who marched in. They sided with them to save their own ass which says a lot. It says this pretty much.....was it God's will to serve the evil Nazi regime?" ;)

[ElderPredator]

You wait everybody, I'll bet you that within the next half century, the position of Pope will no longer exist. The day it no longer exists will be a great day because Pope Benedict doesn't know anymore about God's existence than I do. Also, I can't wait to see, "The Da Vinci Code" which I'm sure he will have comments about.

[ElderPredator]

Oh and by the way, welcome to the threads CaptainCreepy!:D

[Captain Creepy]

Oh, Thank you very much.:D

[thelivingforce]

I think kids can tell the difference between good and evil, nd since when is Harry Potter evil?? It is a story to be enjoyed by people of all ages nothing more -- it is no more damaging than political propaganda that gets thrown are way every day (well, wait a minute...probably less).

[Spider1970]

It's interesting : we can do a parallel when we saw ( in the last HP movie ) Harry and his friends rise against the "new order" of the Ministry of Magic in order to preserve their world of fantasy, imagination, magic & surprises. They don't want this new moral stuff and the scenes which show them joining together are very strong.

:) :) :)

[bigred760]

I still get confused when I see people bashing the Harry Potter books, calling them anti-Christian and that it supports the occult or witchcraft - crap like that. I just now started reading the books; I'm on the fourth one now, and I'm probably more confused now than before. The kids at school get Christmas and Easter off and those are Christian holidays. It's a fantasy book, so that explains the witchcraft angle and I'm pretty sure the "spells" in the book don't work. Stuff like timetravelling spells, morphing spells, and all that are not based in reality.

It's utter crap that people are taking these books THAT seriously.

[CharlieBrooster]

It is expressly these kinds of socio-religious positions that are causing the Catholic Church to progressively lose its global legitimacy. These comments illustrate the stringent domaticism that has increasingly begun to characterize the Church; futhermore, because these comments only serve to frame the world witin a harsh and adversial religious context they are not constructive in my opinion. By continually proliferating these kinds of positions, with their connotations of punitive moralism, the Catholic Church is regrettably detaching itself from its central tenants of administering elements of social welfare.

The broader contituency of the Catholic Church is ultimately going to have to make a fundamental decision about the direction of their faith: do they want to aligm themselves with the Church's antiquated conservatism, or do they want to appropriately evolve with changing social landscape. If they do want to change, then the Catholic Church needs to address firstly their inexcusable exclusion of women from positions in the priesthood. Additionally, the Catholic Church needs to admit that the Pope is simply the leader and representative of the Church, not an infallible instrument of God.

[Spider1970]

Yes

Anyone who likes the HP books and movies can find a great sense of freedom into the stories. From a larger point of view, all magic and fantasy stories draw us in a universe where a lot of things are possible...where even a teenage orphan can face evil only with his power and his trust in his friends. Perhaps it's exactly what scares the catholic church: the possibility to see a boy or a girl develop their own willpower and spirituality, very different from the "classic" faith, by using magic power and not by listening a priest nor reading the Bible. :)

[g1ng3rsnap9ed]

I think they do this because HP books are so popular it will give them more publicity to openly hate on it,or they are just guessing and have never even read any of them.

[Orson-Cockart]

The kids at school get Christmas and Easter off and those are Christian holidays.

I was just about to say that. In every film you hear them wishing each other a happy Christmas, not happy holidays, but happy Christmas. Which is quite something consider the recent encouragement for people to be coy about such religious holidays, to "not offend anyone".

The school itself is very much like a private school. In England our private schools are generally associated with Religion. As the kids wish each other a Happy Christmas, it's clearly Christianity and not Judaism.

The motives of the protagonists are based on virtue. Good and evil are subjective qualities. Christianity determines good and evil by the seven virtues and seven sins, repsectively.

There are many other good messages at hand. Not to trust people in positions of power, some teachers are good while others are more sinister. The film also places the importance on friendships, and is supportive of befriending outcasts, and generally being nice to one another.

The films have their flaws, but the message is a beautiful one.

[Orson-Cockart]

The Catholic Church is evil incarnate. They backed the Nazi's in the war

That isn't a fair accusation. During WWII it wasn't common knowledge of how some p.o.w's were being treated. To this day many of the facts are being misrepresented, such as the concept of genocide. Second in command of the Nazi Party -- Hermann Goring -- was ethnically Jewish. I'm not denying that roughly six million Jews were murdered, and for whatever the reason that's one of many disgusting moments in history. Many more millions of Christians died in that war. Around fifteen million Chinese people died. 20 million Russians. The real reason behind the world war was due to the uprising of Communism. Christianity, in all denominations, has been a regular opponent to Communism, and it was for this reason why the Christian officials supported the attack on the Communist uprising in Europe. Though, as mentioned before, the details of what was happening to p.o.w's wasn't common knowledge at that time.