Benedict apparently praised an anti-Harry Potter activist in a private letter before he became Pope:
In the letter, then-Cardinal Ratzinger specifically pointed to the fact that the danger in the Potter books is hidden was greatly concerning. “It is good that you shed light and inform us on the Harry Potter matter, for these are subtle seductions that are barely noticeable and precisely because of that deeply affect (children) and corrupt the Christian faith in souls even before it (the Faith) could properly grow and mature,” said Cardinal Ratzinger… Regarding the harm to children from the Potter books, Kuby again quotes Cardinal Ratzinger’s letter saying, “That they (children) are being cut off from God, the source of Love and Hope, so that they in sorrowful life conditions are without a foundation that supports them – that they lose the spirit of discernment between good and evil and that they will not have the necessary strength and knowledge to withstand the temptations to evil.”
I can’t independently confirm the letter. And I sure hope the Pope isn’t straying onto fundie la-la-land. But it wouldn’t surprise me.
The Dish 