POPE READY TO GO BACK TO BOOK BURNING?
It seems like the new Pope Benedict XVI isn't going to be lining up to buy a first copy of the imminent Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Nor is he likely to be attending the release of the next Harry Potter movie dressed as a wizard (you know the look - long robes, pointy hat, big stick. Oh wait, maybe he will!)

German writer, Gabriele Kuby, has written a book entitled Harry Potter: Good or Bad, in which she refers to comments from a certain Cardinal Joseph Alois Ratzinger made in 2003. At that time, the nascent Pope Benedict said, "It is good that you explain the facts of Harry Potter, because this is a subtle seduction, which has deeply unnoticed and direct effects in undermining the soul of Christianity before it can really grow properly."

So there you have it: Benny says "No" to Harry. Of course, he'd be very happy if kids all over the world were to be eagerly awaiting the next reprint of the Bible, which contains more sex, violence, wickedry, and debauchery than any Harry Potter novel. And what's more shocking is that Benny would claim that unlike Potter novels, the Bible is true. In which case, maybe it should be added to the Vatican's list of unapproved books.

Strangely enough, in Germany, the author who knocked the previous Potter book from the number one spot was one written by Benny himself - hyped up as a result of his becoming Pope. There were no reports of thousands of children dressed as Popes spending all evening waiting for a midnight release. Shame.

Another book that has apparently raised the Vatican's collective gorge is the popular The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, a novel castigated by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as being full of ''gross lies and manipulations." Well pardon me for sounding stupid, but the fact that the book is billed and sold as a novel should be something of a giveaway here. Novels are supposed to be full of lies and manipulations, otherwise they're called "non-fiction histories."

The real danger in a Harry Potter book seems to be the damage it could cause to your head if it was dropped from a height. Pound for pound, the Potter hardbacks have always been value for money. And once you've read it, you can always use it as a doorstop.

As for claims of encouraging witchcraft and devil worship, methinks that some folks really need to move on from the Middle Ages and get a grip.