The July 14th edition of Vatican Radio’s 105Live program has this segment addressing Harry Potter:
Speak Of The Devil…
The forthcoming publication of the sixth in the Harry Potter series on Saturday has triggered speculation as to the alleged subtle seduction and distortion of Christianity therein. But perhaps remarks Msgr Fleetwood, a new age expert and former official at the Pontifical Council for Culture, part of the problem is people don’t understand the British, their language, their way of life and sense of humour!
Because Vatican Radio only keeps the most current seven episodes on their web site, you’ll need to listen to this piece today (July 19, 2005) or tomorrow to hear the full segment. I’m posting the link anyway because of the recent “Pope hates Potter” stories that have been appearing here and elsewhere.
STOP THE PRESS!
Forget Harry Potter! The real story is that the Vatican is podcasting! w00t!
Re:STOP THE PRESS!
They’ve been podcasting for awhile, at least since May when I first signed up for their feed. I didn’t know what to expect, except maybe papal documents being read out slowly.
To me, it’s a very interesting mix of world problems and people working to solve them, church history, religous writers, and of course, news about papal audiences and other activities. Sometimes they are WAY out in front of the SCLM in foreign events coverage. I heard about Zimbabwae’s destruction of homes in poor neighborhoods a full two weeks before a brief mention on NPR.
It’s not perfect — they tend to stumble quite a bit when reporting on AIDS and some family issues, but overall I find the half-hour daily podcasts very interesting. I download my podcasts on Saturdays, and listen to a week’s worth at a time. This is why I couldn’t provide much notice on the Potter story.