Distinguishing good from evil earns Harry Papal honour

IT’S official. Harry Potter is bigger than slice pan.

As convenient as a pre-sliced loaf may be, it never earned a Papal blessing. Harry has. Why?

Because the Vatican has recognised that the miniature hero has helped children see the difference between good and evil.

Fr Peter Fleetwood, an official Vatican spokesman said as much this week during a Q&A on a 92-page Vatican document which examines the growing appeal of New Age religions and practices.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in this room who grew up without fairies, magic and angels in their imaginary world,” Fr Fleetwood said.

“Magicians and witches are not bad or a banner for anti-Christian ideology.”

He said British author JK Rowling was “Christian by conviction, is Christian in her mode of living, even in her way of writing”.

His endorsement of the popular children’s writer goes against the grain of some conservative Christian groups who have accused the books of glamorising magic and the occult.

Reading a Harry Potter book is “gonna make you dirty”, according to one Rev Douglas Taylor, speaking at a book-shredding affair, where he destroyed copies of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Rev Taylor heads the Jesus Party, based in Lewiston, Maine, USA and has taken up the cause of keeping young readers away from the Harry phenomenon because, he says, it deals with witchcraft and Paganism.

In the first four books, good has largely triumphed over evil but the outcome of the eagerly-awaited book five, The Order of the Phoenix, is not known. JK Rowling has consistently said there are no guarantees about the fate of any of her characters.

The new book is due out on Midsummer Night’s Eve, June 21. Whether the Vatican will once again extend its seal of approval remains to be seen but the Word according to Harry is unlikely to stop spreading.