SALT LAKE CITY — A Catholic school in Tennessee has removed all books from the “Harry Potter” franchise because the school’s priest believes the books conjure evil spirits, according to The Tennessean.
The Rev. Dan Reehil said in an email obtained by The Tennessean that he talked with exorcists in the U.S. and Rome about the decision. The exorcists advised him to remove the books from the school.
He wrote in the email, “These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception. The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.”
Reehil has the final say about what books appear in the school, according to the Associated Press. Catholic Diocese of Nashville superintendent Rebecca Hammel said she believes other J.K. Rowling books are available in the diocese.
Hammel said students can still read the books in school but they just can’t find them in the library, according to WTVF in Nashville.
“While the Catholic Church has expressed no formal position on the books and related movies, many voices in the Church, even at higher levels, have expressed that the subject matter may be appropriate when due consideration is given to the maturity of the reader. We leave these decisions to you as your children’s primary educator,” said Hammel in the email.
Parents responded to the letter with concern but not surprise, according to WTVF in Nashville. The parents penned an anonymous letter expressing their concern but admitted they knew this wasn’t the reverend’s first major controversial decision.
In fact, the letter to the Diocese of Nashville said the reverend had previously exhibited “psychological, emotional, and spiritual abuse of the school children through his messages in and outside of the church, including in the confessional, that has resulted in children seeking professional counseling” and “irresponsible administration of the school resulting in plummeting school enrollment and mass departure of long-term faculty,” according to WTVF.
“Harry Potter” books have been banned from schools before. As the books were originally being published from 1997-2007, they were banned and burned because of their content, according to The Daily Telegraph.
And, according to The Washington Post, “Author J.K. Rowling was frequently accused of promoting Satanism and glorifying the occult.”
In fact, the American Library Association reports that “the books were among the most likely to be challenged by parents objecting to their inclusion in school libraries,” at least from 2000 to 2009, according to The Washington Post.