Vatican’s chief exorcist has claimed that practicing yoga and reading ‘Harry Potter’ brings evil. Father Gabriel Amorth, who has carried out more than 70,000 exorcisms in the past 25 years after being appointed by the late Pope John Paul II, surprised delegates at a conference by revealing his dislike for yoga and ‘Harry Potter’.
"Practising yoga brings evil as does reading Harry Potter. They may both seem innocuous but they both deal with magic and that leads to evil," the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.
"Yoga is the Devil’s work. You thing you are doing it for stretching your mind and body but it leads to Hinduism. All these oriental religions are based on the false belief of reincarnation," he said.
Speaking on the subject of People And Religion at a fringe event at the Umbria Film Festival in Terni, Father Amorth spoke of his distaste for JK Rowling’s young wizard.
"People think it is an innocuous book for children but it’s about magic and that leads to evil. In Harry Potter the Devil is at work in a cunning and crafty way, he is using his extraordinary powers of magic and evil," he said.
"Satan is always hidden and the thing he desires more than anything is for people to believe he does not exist. He studies each and everyone of us and our tendencies towards good and evil and then he tempts us.
"My advice to young people would be to watch out for nightclubs because the path is always the same: alcohol, sex, drugs and Satanic sects," he added.
This is not the first time that the 85-year-old has raised eyebrows with his forthright views, as last year he had said that the ongoing child sex scandals rocking the Catholic Church were evidence that "the Devil was at work in the Vatican".
"People think it is an innocuous book for children but it’s about magic and that leads to evil. In Harry Potter the Devil is at work in a cunning and crafty way, he is using his extraordinary powers of magic and evil," he said.
"Satan is always hidden and the thing he desires more than anything is for people to believe he does not exist. He studies each and everyone of us and our tendencies towards good and evil and then he tempts us.
"My advice to young people would be to watch out for nightclubs because the path is always the same: alcohol, sex, drugs and Satanic sects," he added.
This is not the first time that the 85-year-old has raised eyebrows with his forthright views, as last year he had said that the ongoing child sex scandals rocking the Catholic Church were evidence that "the Devil was at work in the Vatican".