Potter may help the devil: Mexican priest

The leading exorcist of Mexico's main archdiocese said the popular Harry Potter book and film series could allow the devil to enter children's minds, and does ''a lot of damage.''

The Reverend Pedro Mendoza, a Roman Catholic priest and exorcist coordinator of the Archdiocese of Mexico City, made the comments at the end of a five-day exorcism conference in Mexico City.

''If you put all these ideas in a child's head, that he can become a wizard, the child believes that, and that is opening an avenue through which the devil can get in,'' Mendoza said Friday - the eve of the release of the series' final book.

He said that Harry Potter ''doesn't interest us,'' but ''unfortunately, it does a lot of damage.''

Mendoza said the meeting aimed to unite priests who practice exorcisms, a ritual that began increasing in the 1960s, when family ties began weakening and the mass media started proliferating ''new ideas'' and ''abusing sensationalism.''

Without strong, faith-bound families, which he said allow individuals to see God's work in everyday life, people lose touch with God and seek ''magical solutions'' to modern problems.

''There are many demonic influences, infestations, curses, witchcraft,'' he said. ''And it's in that field that the devil is working.''

Cases of demonic possession such as the one portrayed in the film The Exorcist, are extreme and rare, Mendoza said.

About 280 priests and lay people attended the conference, which included an $230 exorcism course.

Yep... Mrs. Slim and I are big fans.

We saw the 5th movie last Friday, and a good percentage of the folks in the theatre were middle aged. I don’t know if they didn’t have kids, if they did they were probably college age.

The books are just fun.

I just reread the series before buying the new book later today. I love them - they are just good stories with good and evil. To fuss and read more into them than that is silly. I suspect more adults read them than children.....I have carried mine around for a few weeks, and a lot of adults have commented that they are looking forward to the new release coming out.

We are at book six, and I haven’t seen stories of children taking them too seriously. In fact, most kids have quit reading them long before the adults.

Yes. Adults enjoy them. They are well told tales. The interest in the stories also creates easy access points for conversation; a la how’s the weather or what is your favorite baseball team up to?

As for kids, having taught middle school teens, and having found them as tough as any crowd, the Potter series was a nice point discussion. There is symbolism in the books and I often used identification of the symbols in the books to assist youngsters in identifying symbols while discussing the Gospels.

Some of my students found correlaries in the books that they felt related to faith and the Christian faith of the author; Harry is a character who is often challenged by that which is obviously evil, he struggles, is sometimes beguiled or confused by evil, but in the end chooses good.

As with anything, all things in moderation. If your kid is strictly reading books of the wizardry genre or seems to have an attraction for the occult one should be cautious. My 8 year old has no trouble understnding that this is fiction.

I agree with the Priest. Witchcraft is prohibited by the Bible. I got King Saul in a lot of trouble.

Prophet Samuel tells Saul:

“Though you may be small in your own eyes, you are the head of the tribes of Israel; and God anointed you to be king over Israel...Why did you not obey the voice of God?...

I shall not return to you for you have rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has rejected you from being King over Israel.”

And Samuel turned to go and he [Saul] seized the hem of his robe and it tore. And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it your fellow who is better than you.’” (1 Samuel 15:17-28)

My mother-in-law loves them. I’m not letting my kids read them right now because I want to make sure they have a firm foundation in their faith before they are tested! She keeps threatening to read the books to my kids. Grrr! I’m really not too concerned about it. There are just so many other excellent books out there that I don’t feel like they are missing out on anything. My 8 year old son just finished Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, Sherlock homes stories and is getting ready for Gulliver’s Travels and the Hardy Boys series. That works for me! ;0)

I believe there is a danger, for kids who are searching for, or get lost in these books. Remember the game ‘Dungeons and Dragons?’ A number of kids were taking on the persona of their character, commiting suicide etc.

I also agree that religion and spirituality has been replaced in this era with growing paganism.

Yes, at work. An adult will decide what is real or not and just enjoy this author’s great style of writing which draws you into the experience, whether or not you want to believe it is true. The danger, I think, with kids is before they are capable of discerning real or fake, they think everything is real, like Adam and Eve lived before the fall (must have been absolutely stress free). After learning about lies, you have to be able to discern the truth. Older kids may dabble for the adventure. Rowling is a great writer. She could probably write an exciting pictureless catalog.

**Anyone else encountered this?**

And I think it is alarming.

If I had teens right now, they could not see the movies or read the books. (Mean mom, here.)

Possibly, but I also think that “darkness” and the attraction to the power that such darkness provides is the cause of concern for many who may not be familiar with the series.

I can see children who do not have balance in their lives, or spiritual lives, going the other way, a la the “dungeons and dragons” minions.

I’m no aficionado of the books, but I dare say that the series even addresses these issues - the attraction to darkness, seduction of power and surrendering one’s self to predestined fate.

**The leading exorcist of Mexico’s main archdiocese said the popular Harry Potter book and film series could allow the devil to enter children’s minds, and does ‘’a lot of damage.’’**

We need to be warned.

I enjoy the Harry Potter series, and have no problem with my children reading the books. Without throwing out a spoiler, I can tell you that the struggle between good and evil is an important element in the book, and that redemption and forgiveness are also huge components in this last book. My children have not become satanists after reading Harry Potter, if anything events in the books have sparked some interesting conversations around the house that include God and Our Savior.

I came upon an adult - an American in America - a week a so ago who couldn't read!

I'd dare say that something this relatively benign that would compel reading - adults and children - is okay.

It could be a lot worse.

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