How does the Pope feel
about those TV witches?
(I would start with Rose . . .)
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
***I don't see anywhere in the Bible that childrens' books are somehow evil***
How about "Heather has Two Mommies"?
I am so glad to see this article!
Deja vu?
Deja vu?
This is the same as that dead thread that got resurrected last night. Silly then, silly now.
"Has Christianity become so narrow-minded? "
Yes. Paranoid and fearful too.
Do 'Harry Potter' books also cause priestly pedophilia? Or is the Pope going to continue the legacy of sweeping that little inconvenience under the rug by focusing on other harmless topics, like JK Rowling fantasy literature?
Very good question posed there! Thanks.
"I would think he would have his hands full dealing with more pressing internal issues within his own organization to be overly concerned about a children's book."
One would think.
I'd rather chew on Filch's socks than get involved with this thread.
"Lord of the Rings was written as an allegory for salvation history. Tolkien said as much and was a devout Catholic who had a close friendship with the great theologian, C.S. Lewis. It's not comparable."
Could you perhaps prove that? Tolkien was a devout Catholic but he also wrote quite emphatically that Lord of the Rings was *not* an allegory for anything though people have tried to connect it to Christianity, WWII, WWI, nuclear weaponry etc etc etc...
"The story is neither allegorical nor topical."~J.R.R. Tolkien
LOL!!! Eeewww....
I think I will pass on pinging the list to this one. Like Jen said, it's deja vu all over again.
Right now I'm having amnesia
and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.
*************
A more relevant question would be: Are you a Catholic?
*** A more relevant question would be: Are you a Catholic?***
No, I am an evangelical Christian.
"The Potter books are literally packed with this stuff from start to finish."
BUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZ
Wrong across the board. There is absolutely NOTHING in the Potter books that even vaguely resembles any activity proscribed by God. Magic in Potter is purely genetic, some people can do it, some people can't, they don't practice any occult they simply control a mutant power they have. Everyone that says Potter teaches occult either never read any of it, knows nothing about real world occult, or is just plain lying.
How does the Pope feel
about those TV witches?
(I would start with Rose . . .)
I'm sorry I was unclear. I meant the person to whom you were responding.
Harry Potter and friends are characters children CAN'T emulate. Magic in HP is genetic, it's well established in the books that future wizards already have these powers and accidentally display them before ever being instructed or knowing anything about them. Wizards in HP are wizards at birth, everything else is training and control, it doesn't glorify witchcraft as discussed in the Bible because it has no relationship to that kind of witchcraft.
*** I meant the person to whom you were responding.***
:)
BUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
to your
BUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZ.
That a large number of factual errors you've go in that post mister. Are you sure you have a license to drive that thing?
There's not one single factual error in that post. The factual errors are all yours, the HP books are not chock full of occult references. Back up your claim with facts, I'm sick to death of people like you driving people away from Christianity with your condemning narrow minded BS. You people are disgusting, the true tools of Satan or the people condemning that which they don't know and hiding behind the Bible while they do it making Christiandom as a whole look like idiots.
You got facts bring em, you don't got facts admit you're making crap up. Of course the truth is you don't have facts, I know it, everyone who's actually read the HP books and knows anything about real work occult knows it, the only people that don't know it are the ones condemning HP. Every decade this crowd of pathetic morons has to pick something to condemn, and they're always wrong, and always drag Christianity down with them.
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