H'm. My sister has read every Harry Potter book, yet somehow has managed to remain an active, devout Christian. I don't see the big deal with HP. It is make believe, afterall.
This woman has had problems with the Catholic Church in the past. READ MY POST #13
Personally, I see the Potter books in the same tenure as Tolkien and almost like the Narnia books (although not nearly as clever as CS Lewis).
The values of human life, family, and generally being decent are paramount.
The "magic" of the books is clearly nonsense and, in no way, related to the Satanic tripe of "real" (cough) magic practitioners in the real world.
That said, I doubt B16 said this.
I am a strong evangelical Christian. I love the HP books. I can see a strong surprising current of Christian oriented morality in them (importance of family and friends, importance of making good choices, how love protects us).
But the setting of magic and witchcraft is upsetting to many Christians. They think the books are evil.
Most of us who read them don't advertise it, some of us for no other reason than out of love, because others of us have had very bad experiences with the occult. So I could see how some Christians could recommend them and others could hate them.
Besides, lets face it. A man who has never had any kids is probably the kind that will tell you never let your kids watch TV anyway, and they should only read classics and uplifting books, and never have meals consisting of french fries. My friends without kids always told me that, too. :)
I've read them all, and I'm a good Anglican still.
(But I cannot get that damn Patronus to work no matter WHAT I do. I think my wand needs fixing.)