Egghead Academic Demands Pope Explain Himself (vis-a-vis Harry Potter)

Written on 8:07 PM by Jack B.

Yes, indeed. The Pope obviously has a lot of time on his hands these days or at least concludes some guy named Edmund Kern in the UK Scotsman in an article entitled: Pope should spell out views on Potter

Excerpt:

Five is the total number of sentences Pope Benedict XVI has devoted to Harry Potter - well, only one, really, but more on that in a bit.

The sentences were written in 2003, while the pontiff was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. His opinion of JK Rowling's hero then attracted little attention, even though, at the time, he was head of the Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, an institution known as the Universal Inquisition until 1908.

Since then, of course, much has changed, not the least of which is Cardinal Ratzinger's elevation to the Holy See. Now, with millions reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Pope's two-year-old opinion is everywhere. What a shame, for it has generated far more heat than light. ...

...If Pope Benedict believes the Harry Potter books are worth the Church's attention, he owes millions of readers a better explanation of why he chose to lend his support this attack. Five sentences? Again, what a shame.

Ah, where to begin? First, notice how the guy can't resist calling the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by a name it hasn't used in OVER 200+ YEARS, raising the specter of the Inquisition (cue scary music), that alone should tell you where this piece is coming from. This is a media trick that was often used in the days after the Pope was elected (and even before), equating Ratzinger with the "Grand Inquisitor". Meanwhile, according to Kern, Pope Benedict should give even more free publicity to the fastest selling book of all time and add to the billions of JK Rowling, by publicly commenting on the book now that he is Pope. To "clarify" remarks he made in a personal letter years ago. And where does that end, Mr. Kern, if the-then Joseph Ratzinger wrote of how he disliked X, Y, or Z when he was younger, should he have to clarify that too? Should the book comment on every book and movie he has seen - just for "clarification"? Please, Mr. Kern, get over yourself. The Pope has plenty of better uses for his time than this nonsense. So, I assume, do you. At least one would hope so.