Benedict XVI anti-HP

• iveco

  29 Apr 05, 01:01

  From Contactmusic.com:
  
  

  NEW POPE HITS OUT AT HARRY POTTER BOOKS
  
  New Pope BENEDICT XVI has blasted JK ROWLING's HARRY POTTER books for "undermining the soul of Christianity".
  
  Nicknamed 'GOD'S ROTTWEILER', Pope Benedict is set to confuse Catholics across the world because his predecessor JOHN PAUL II praised the multi-millionairess for her Christian lifestyle.
  
  Benedict, formerly CARDINAL JOSEPH RATZINGER is grateful to HARRY POTTER - GOOD OR BAD author GABRIELE KUBY for revealing the hidden agendas behind the popular children's books.
  
  He says, "It is good that you explain the facts of Harry Potter, because this is a subtle seduction, which has deeply unnoticed and direct effects in undermining the soul of Christianity before it can really grow properly."
  
  Leading Christian theologian UTA RANKE-HEINEMANN, 77, comments, "The Vatican feels it has the copyright on what is good and what is evil and it does not want anyone else infringing its right to this monopoly.
  
  "It will condemn anyone who tries to enter this territory without its permission."
  
  24/04/2005 21:40

  This does not bode well for us Harry Potter fans. John Paul II had lauded it for emphasis on moral values in the past. Now his successor has reversed his endorsement. Damn!
  
  
• iveco

  29 Apr 05, 01:07

  At another forum:
  
  It has apparently been 2 years since the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger spoke out against JKR's books (which had his predecessor's endorsement at that time). This issue is bound to be controversial. What do our fans think?
• sharkenstein

  30 Apr 05, 00:25

  come on lah its just a book wats his problem
• LazerLordz

  30 Apr 05, 00:42

  Originally posted by sharkenstein:

  come on lah its just a book wats his problem

  Might as well ask him to start a crusade against PC gamers..
• laurence82

  30 Apr 05, 00:43

  Not only the Pope, but many Protestants also dont like HP.....
• 798

  30 Apr 05, 00:45

  do u expect the Benedict say, "I MARK FOR GINNY WEASLEY!"
  
  
• NeonTetra

  30 Apr 05, 00:59

  when the Pope says things ppl like...he's welcomed and accepted. when he says things people dun like...ppl wanna change to a liberal pope.
  
  so is wat u want or wat he want to show?
  
• TehJarVu

  30 Apr 05, 01:05

  anti handphone don't use loh
• Chin Eng

  3 May 05, 08:10

  Does not matter what the Pope or any religious leaders think about any genre of anything.... they have to say the things they want to say and their followers can think they want to think.
  One of the pastors in my church (not my worship service) is radically anti HP or Pokemon or whatever that's new in entertainment. Say what he wants, but his congregation has people with kids having HP bags, Pokemon cards etc.
  We all have a cause or two during our lifetime one time or other. Whether such causes are real or not is another matter.
• laurence82

  3 May 05, 10:39

  Originally posted by Chin Eng:

  Does not matter what the Pope or any religious leaders think about any genre of anything.... they have to say the things they want to say and their followers can think they want to think.
  One of the pastors in my church (not my worship service) is radically anti HP or Pokemon or whatever that's new in entertainment. Say what he wants, but his congregation has people with kids having HP bags, Pokemon cards etc.
  We all have a cause or two during our lifetime one time or other. Whether such causes are real or not is another matter.

  x2...
• iveco

  8 Jun 05, 00:55

  Singer Charlotte Church slammed Ratzinger when he first made the comment about Harry Potter books. Now, she has gone one step further, adding that Ben 16th should read JKR before he can pass any judgement. To think he is the successor of the one who preached:
  
  

  Let whoever without sin cast the first stone.

• iveco

  15 Jul 05, 17:07

  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/ratzingerlet...
  http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005_docs/ratzingerper...
  
  See LifeSite's Harry Potter resource section at:
  http://www.lifesite.net/features/harrypotter/
  
  jhw