The Vatican has condemned the Harry Potter books by JK Rowling because in the books “witchcraft is proposed as a positive ideal” and claim that Harry himself is “the wrong kind of hero.” The author says that the seven-book series has an “inverted and confused spirituality: a world where bad is good” and that they are characterised by a “vague, new-age philosophy.”

What a load of utter bollocks.

The Harry Potter books are no more characterised by a “vague, new-age philosophy” than any other fantasy series. It is a fictional belief system set inside a fictional world – and far less anti-Christian than a great many other fantasy series can be seen to be. Nowhere in any of the Harry Potter books is any god mentioned, and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry follows the traditional Christian-derived school term structure, with holidays at Christmas and Easter.

It is a fictional series set inside the fantasy genre. It is based on the traditional setting of that genre – good vs evil. Apart from the fact that the heroes use magic to save the world, there is absolutely nothing to set it apart from moral Christian teachings. That is what the Vatican should be focusing on – the parts with which it agrees, rather than the parts with which is disagrees, like the previous Pope had been.

Frankly, by picking on the Harry Potter books, the Vatican is creating a problem out of thin air. By demonstrating such a vehement dislike of them, it is shooting itself in the foot with young people – those who the series is aimed at – and predisposing them to disagree with the Catholic Church in particular, and the Christian faith in general.