And he has upset some who are:

“The positive review of the latest Harry Potter film in L’Osservatore Romano is symptomatic of serious problems in the condition of many modern Catholics,” Michael D. O’Brien, author of “Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture,” told LifeSiteNews last week.

[………….]

Cardinal Ratzinger’s was not the only Vatican voice to express grave concern over Potter.  The Vatican’s chief exorcist, Rev. Gabriele Amorth, has repeatedly condemned the Harry Potter novels.  In 2006 he said, “You start off with Harry Potter, who comes across as a likeable wizard, but you end up with the Devil … By reading Harry Potter a young child will be drawn into magic and from there it is a simple step to Satanism and the Devil.”

I haven’t seen the final film yet, but I have read all the books. I could be wrong – time will tell – but I am reasonably convinced that Messrs Ratzinger, Amorth et al are tilting at the wrong windmill.

For all its magic, wizards, wands and silly quidditch, Harry Potter remains a classic tale of good against evil. I don’t think it is as good as Lord of the Rings or Narnia, and obviously it is lacking the more explicitly Christian parallels – particularly in Narnia.

Tolkien was criticised for the apparent lack of the Christian God in Lord of the Rings: his response was that obviously he is there – it is up to the reader to notice him. C. S. Lewis was criticised for allusions to the occult in his science fiction trilogy, particularly in That Hideous Strength. So Christian Potter pooping is to be expected.

Flawed though they may be from a Christian point of view, at least the books use God given imagination to revitalise the truth that we dwell in a universe where cosmic forces of good and evil do battle – we are the soldiers and good eventually triumphs.

Not a bad story.