Always Advent

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The 5th movie — Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix–comes out July 13, 2007.
The 7th and final book — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows–comes out July 21, 2007 – a 12 million copy 1st printing.

Still not sure whether to let your kids read Potter? Try the links below, although I can’t guarantee they’ll make your decision any easier. Plenty of Catholic opinionists believe HP is fine as is, some say fine with reservations, some say it’s a definite no-no. Some of the links appear in more than one list, and I definitely have NOT read all the articles listed–there are so many, it would be impossible. Comments on the suitability/helpfulness of links welcome.

Clare’s Exhausting-But-Probably-Not-Exhaustive List of Harry Potter Links:

New Links: (added on 12/21/07) This just never ends, does it? :)

12-21-07 “In Defense of Dumbledore” by Regina Doman
http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/68303

8/19-25/07 “Stuck in the Middle With Harry” by Carl E. Olson
http://ncregister.com/site/article/3443

New Links: (added on 12/10/07)

http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/63740
C.S. Lewis, Spiritual Warfare, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Marc T. Newman, Ph.D. 7/13/07

http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/64814
Final Harry Potter Wars? By Terry Mattingly 8/23/07

http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/67042
Harry Potter: No Innocent Fun by Fr. Thomas Euteneuer 11/6/07

http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/66886
The “Outing” of Dumbledore: A Catholic Response by Bill Donaghy 10/28/07

Dumbledore:
http://eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com/175955.html
http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/10/20/j-k-rowling-at-carn egie-hall-reveals-dumbledore-is-gay-neville-marries-hannah-a bbott-and-scores-more
http://www.scificatholic.com/

The Original Huge Stack o’ Links:

General information about Harry Potter:
Answers.com article
Wikipedia article
Warner Brothers (official movie site)
The Harry Potter Lexicon

General information on JK Rowling:
JK Rowling Teacher Resource file: a big page of links, including essays on Harry Potter from secular sources
JK Rowling’s website
Answers.com article
Wikipedia entry

Interviews with JK Rowling:
Scholastic
KidsReads
Stories from the Web

Audio:
The Secrets of Harry Potter (podcasts by Fr. Roderick Vonhogen)
There’s Something About Harry: A Catholic Analysis of the Harry Potter Phenomenon (audio cassette featuring authors Patrick Madrid, Michael O’Brien, and Toni Collins)
The Trouble with Harry (audio cassette by Matthew Arnold)

Steven Greydanus, author of Decent Films Guide:
Harry Potter vs. Gandalf: An in-depth analysis of the literary use of magic in the works of J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis
Faith and Fantasy: Tolkien the Catholic, The Lord of the Rings, and Peter Jackson’s Film Trilogy

The Onion parodies the Harry Potter phenomenon:
“Harry Potter Books Spark Rise in Satanism Among Children”, originally published by The Onion and debunked at these sites: Snopes, Religious Tolerance, Break the Chain, and Truth or Fiction.

The Snopes article, updated 3/21/07, is particularly good, and closes with this quote: “If The Onion’s parody has demonstrated anything, it’s that we should be worrying about adults not being able to distinguish between fiction and reality. The kids themselves seem to have a pretty good grasp of it.”

(Note: if the Onion article were an actual news piece, it would be really bad: do not allow children to read it because it’s quite vulgar. — Clare)

Christian author and Harry Potter fan describes her persecution at the hands of Christian readers who took The Onion article seriously:
The Potter Parody That Got Out of Hand by Anne Morse

Other Onion Harry Potter parodies:
J.K. Rowling Ends Harry Potter Series After Discovering Boys
Infographic: New Harry Potter Film (11/16/05)
Children, Creepy Middle-Aged Weirdos Swept Up In Harry Potter Craze (12/5/01)
New Harry Potter Films Turns Children On To Magic of Not Reading (11/28/01)
Infographic: Wild About Harry (10/6/99)
Infographic: Pottermania Yet Again (7/2/03)

(Note: the Onion is sometimes very funny, but often not recognized for what it is: clever parodies and satire. The Harry Potter stuff is not the only material from the Onion that’s been mistakenly passed around the rumor mill as true. Also, the Onion is generally not suitable for children. — Clare)

Blog Threads:

Blog title: Pontifications
Author: the former Fr. Alvin F. Kimel, Jr. (formerly an Episcopal priest, now a Catholic priest)
The Gospel and Harry Potter (reprint of an original sermon by the author 6/29/03)
Can Catholics read Harry Potter and not to to Hell? (original post: 7/14/05)

Blog title: Open Book
Author: Amy Welborn
Pope Condemns Harry Potter!!!!!!!!!!! (original post 7/14/05)
HP=RC (original post 5/18/04)
Speaking of Harry (original post 7/14/05)

Blog title: Flying Stars
Author: Nancy (Carpenter) Brown
Harry Potter and the Catholic Family
Nancy Brown’s response to a Mercatornet article on Harry Potter

Blog title: JimmyAkin.org
Author: Jimmy Akin
LifeSiteNews Calls Kettle Black (original post 7/14/05)
Pre-16 On Harry Potter (original post 7/14/05)

Blog title: maureenwittmann.blogspot
Author: Maureen Wittman
The Pros and Cons of Harry (original post 2/27/06 — scroll down a bit)

Blog title: Catholic and Enjoying It!
Author: Mark Shea
various posts on Harry Potter

Michael O’Brien:
(Harry Potter and the Paganization of Children’s Culture, originally published Oct. 10 2001 in Catholic World Report)
Pope Benedict and Harry Potter (7/1/05)
Some Thoughts on the Harry Potter Series by Michael O’Brien (article originally appeared in the National Catholic Register, Oct. 22, 2000, now archived on the Catholic Education Resource Center) Note: He mentions at the end of the article that Ignatius Press has an entire section devoted to what well-known Catholic authors think of the Potter series, but I was not able to find such a section online.

Various Christian commentary on Harry Potter:
Character, Choice, and Harry Potter by Catherine Jack Deavel (Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, vol. 5, no. 4, Fall 2002)
The Harry Potter Books: charming stories or a demonic plot?
Transcript of the Vatican Radio program 105Live, Thursday, July 14, 2005. Features Msgr. Peter Fleetwood’s interesting comments on the Harry Potter stories and the fact that it’s easier to understand and appreciate Harry Potter if one is English. (Note: last time I checked this link, it was broken. I’m hoping the transcript hasn’t been permanently removed from the Catholic Insider site, so I’m leaving the link here. — Clare)
No Catholic Consensus by Tim Ryland
Vatican official has kind word for Harry Potter’s magical world by John L. Allen Jr., National Catholic Reporter, February 21, 2003
Hogwarts Professor a blog by John Granger: “Thoughts for the Serious Reader of Harry Potter”. (Author of the books The Hidden Key to Harry Potter and Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader (both 2007, Zossima Press) and editor of Who Killed Albus Dumbledore? (an anthology of essays by various authors, 2006 Zossima Press). “Rita Skeeter Covers the Vatican” follows the papal flap over HP.
Matters of Opinion: The Perils of Harry Potter by Jacqui Komschlies (Christianity Today, October 23, 2000)
Harry Potter is Dangerous for Both You and Your Children, adapted from a sermon by Fr. Casimir Puskorius, CMRI, December 16,2001
Death stalks the halls of Hogwarts by Joe Woodard (4/13/07 on Mercatornet)
Nancy Brown’s response to the Mercatornet article
LifeSiteNews:
The Problem of Harry Potter

Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI:
Pope Benedict and Harry Potter 7/1/05 archived on Michael O’Brien’s site
The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club and The Pope Benedict XVI Fan Club)
Catholic World News and LifeSiteNews)
Pope Opposes Harry Potter Novels – Signed Letters from Cardinal Ratzinger Now Online (July 13, 2005 LifeSiteNews.com)
Scanned copies of the two signed letters by Cardinal Ratzinger (in German):
1st letter, 2nd letter.
Benedict XVI Opposes Harry Potter
(article title: “Pope Opposes Harry Potter Novels—Signed Letters from Cardinal Ratzinger Now Online”, 7/13/05, LifeSiteNews.com)

Articles archived on Catholic Culture:
First Things, January 2000)
St. Joseph Covenant Keepers)
The Trouble With Harry by John Andrew Murray (2000 St. Joseph Covenant Keepers Newsletter, published by Family Life Center International, Inc., St. Joseph Covenant Keepers)
Catholic World News, 2000 or Catholic World Report, April 2001)
Envoy Communications, Inc.)
Homiletic & Pastoral Review, June 2001)
Harry Potter at the Vatican by Dr. Jeff Mirus, 7/22/05 on Catholic Culture. Scroll down to read the article.
Has the Pope Condemned Harry Potter? By Dr. Jeff Mirus (Catholic Culture 7/16/05)

Archived at the website of St. Joseph’s Covenant Keepers:
And They Lived Happily Ever After by Vivian W. Dudro
Citations from Scripture and the Catechism on divination, magic, and sorcery
Harry Potter Gets Vatican Blessing? (article by “S.W.”, whom I assume is Steve Woods, containing a summary of his correspondence with Msgr. Fleetwood)
Harry Potter: Agent of Conversion by Toni Collins, Envoy Magazine
Harry Potter: An Entry Point into the World of the Occult/New Age Movement by Steve Wood
Phenomenon of Satanism in Contemporary Society by Giuseppe Ferrari with comments from Steve Wood
Restoring the Sense of Wonder. Interview with Michael O’Brien
Rome’s Chief Exorcist Warns Parents Against Harry Potter (originally appeared on LifeSiteNews.com)
Some Thoughts on the Harry Potter Series by Michael O’Brien
The Perils of Harry Potter by Jacqui Komschlies
The Trouble with Harry by John Andrew Murray, Dean of Students at Whitefield Academy in Atlanta, GA
What Parents Are Saying About Harry Potter

Articles archived at Catholic Educator’s Resource Center (CERC. Also goes by Catholic Education Resource Center):
Not Quite Narnia: The Harry Potter Books in Review by Jason Boffetti (Crisis, vol 17, no. 11 Dec. 1999)
Is Harry Potter Good for Our Kids? By Vivian W. Dudro (St. Joseph’s Covenant Keepers vol 6, no. 12 July/August 2000)
Some Thoughts on the Harry Potter Series by Michael O’Brien (National Catholic Register, October 22, 2000)
Harry Potter and the Paganization of Children’s Culture by Michael O’Brien (Catholic World Report, April 2001)
Tolkien and Rowling: Common Ground? By Michael O’Brien and Sandra Miesel (a letter to the editor by Sandra Miesel with a response by Michael O’Brien, Catholic World Report, July 2001)
When Harry Potter Goes Awry (Zenit interview with Michael O’Brien, 2001)
Some Thoughts on the Harry Potter Series by Michael O’Brien (article originally appeared in the National Catholic Register, Oct. 22, 2000, now archived on the Catholic Education Resource Center, www.catholiceducation.org) Note: He mentions at the end of the article that www.ignatius.com has an entire section devoted to what well-known Catholic authors think of the Potter series, but I was not able to find such a section online.

Google Directory Opposing Views (a page of links)

Beliefnet articles:
The Rapture of Harry (comparison between the Harry Potter series and the Left Behind series)
Harry Potter, Christ Figure?
The True Christian Myth Behind Harry Potter by Peter Bouteneff
Harry Potter and the Prophet of Doom by James K.A. Smith
Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Failings by Mark Shea
Spinning Yarns That Deceive by Charles Colson
Pastoral Counsel for Heartsick Muggles by Paul Raushenbush
A Harry Potter Villain Beat His ‘Dark Mark.’ So Can We by Connie Neal
He’s a charmer, that Harry Potter by Deepti Hajela
Please Let Harry Potter Die by Terry Mattingly
The Potter Parody That Got Out of Hand by Anne Morse
Life Lessons From Harry Potter by Laura Sheahen
It May Not Be Hogwarts…(real-life pagan schools)
“Board” with Potter: What do Pagans and other Beliefnet members think about Potter? By Paul O’Donnell
“I Won’t Take My Kids to See ‘Harry Potter’” by Wendy Schuman. An interview with Christian author Bill Myers
What Do Harry Potter and Our Lady of Fatima Have in Common? By Andrew Greeley
They’re Not So Wild About Harry by Richard Mouw
A Hollywood Witchcraft Primer by Ellen Leventry
Wild About Harry by Jean G. Fitzpatrick

Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s chief exorcist:
Vatican’s Chief Exorcist Repeats Condemnation of Harry Potter Novels
LifeSiteNews.com Rome March 2, 2006
Rome’s Chief Exorcist Warns Parents Against Harry Potter (LifeSiteNews.com January 2, 2002 — scroll down a bit to see the article)