Harry the Anti-Christ

This pope was a catalyst to the downfall of communism. This pope goes after a fictional character.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II visited his homeland and declared -- in the then solidly Soviet-ruled Poland -- "It is not possible to understand the history of the Polish nation without Christ." Within two years, the Polish people, who were awakened that day in Warsaw and led by an electrician named Lech Walesa, were thorns in Moscow's side.

In contrast, his successor, the already forgettable Pope Benedict XVI, takes on Harry Potter.

In one response, dated March 2003, he wrote in German: "It is good that you enlighten us on the Harry Potter matter, for these are subtle seductions that are barely noticeable, and precisely because of that have a deep effect and corrupt the Christian faith in souls even before it could properly grow."

He also thanked the author for her "instructive" book, in which Frau Kuby says the hugely popular Potter novels risk corrupting young people, preventing them from developing a proper sense of good and evil. She argued this could harm a child's developing relationship with God.

Which reminds me of the time several years ago, when my then 11-year-old nephew absolutely loved Harry Potter. I've never read Harry Potter, don't care to. But in my opinion, reading fantasy and developing an imagination are a lot better for a kid than a video game where the object is to steal cars, beat people with a baseball bat and attempt to outsmart the Mob.

However, my half-crazy, mostly fundamentalist mother refused to buy him anything Potter-related and declared the boy magician "satanic." So for Christmas that year, guess what I did?

I bought every small Harry Potter toy I could find, individually wrapped about a dozen of those things and gave them to him for Christmas. And laughed my ass off at my mother's reaction as he tore into each gift.

Maybe I should find a few and send a care package to that sourpuss over in Rome.