Pope gives Thumbs Down to Harry Potter - [Religion]

The Pope has criticised the Harry Potter books, saying they "distort Christianity in the soul", according to two letters published online. The comments were made to the German author of Harry Potter - Good or Evil? - which criticises JK Rowling's stories.

Gabriele Kuby sent the German pontiff a copy of the book in 2003, when he was still a cardinal, and his replies have now been published. "It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because these are subtle seductions which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly," he wrote.

He also thanked Kuby for her "instructive" book, in which she says the Potter series corrupts the hearts of the young, preventing them from developing a sense of good and evil. In a second letter sent two months later, the Pope "gladly" gave his permission for Kuby to make his judgment public.

The Vatican had previously given the books an apparent seal of approval. At a press conference in 2003, senior official, Father Peter Fleetwood, said he did not see any problem with the books. "I don't think there's anyone in this room who grew up without fairies, magic and angels in their imaginary world," he said. "They help children to see the difference between good and evil."

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be unveiled at midnight on July 16.

Thanks for the article, Kolar.
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yea... the 6th book just came out. i cant wait to get it!!!!

yea... the 6th book just came out. i cant wait to get it!!!!
my cousin got it yesturday. Already read 40 pages of it...

my cousin got it yesturday. Already read 40 pages of it...

i bet u there r ppl who already finished the whole entire thing. :)

i bet u there r ppl who already finished the whole entire thing. :)
im sure there are. my cousin loves "Harry Poter" books, teh first 2 i believe he finishe with in a week they came out...

she will have last and 7th book of her final novel, i've heard many people read it and it interests them at many diffrent ages, 7 year olds to 40 year olds, some go crazy about this book.

she will have last and 7th book .
I herd on th e news taht they will continue writing books till the 10th
s some go crazy about this book.
do you go crazy about it... :love70:

i saw on televeision last night the author said "i will stop at the 7th book" i guess she became rich enough, no i dont go crazy about the book, personally i dont read this kind of fantasies..
i like to read war novels, terrorism, etc. something to keep me on the edge.

the author said "i will stop at the 7th book" i guess she became rich enough, .
all of them say that. but once people start buying teir books, they change their mind...
i no i dont go crazy about the book, personally i dont read this kind of fantasies...i like to read war novels, terrorism, etc. something to keep me on the edge.
interesting, i also enjoy rading violant books...

New Potter book topples U.S. sales records
6.9 million copies sold in first 24 hours, more than 250,000 per hour

NEW YORK - There’s clearly something about Harry.

The new “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” sold an astonishing 6.9 million copies in the United States in its first 24 hours — averaging better than 250,000 sales per hour and smashing the record held by the previous Potter release.

“This is a cause for celebration, not just for Scholastic, but for book lovers everywhere,” said Lisa Holton, president of Scholastic Children’s Books, author J.K. Rowling’s U.S. publisher.


Sales for the sixth installment of Rowling’s fantasy series easily outpaced those for the last Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” which came out in 2003 and sold 5 million copies in the first 24 hours.

Acknowledging that some stores quickly ran out of books two years ago, Scholastic has already increased the print run for “Half-Blood Prince” from 10.8 million copies to 13.5 million.

British publisher Bloomsbury announced Monday that just over 2 million copies sold on the first day of release, a 13 percent increase over the last book and a record for that country.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8608578/