With the latest film adaptation of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, set to hit theatres at midnight tonight, a review in L’Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, has given the movie two thumbs up. This stance is a complete about face from previous comments made by the Pope (then Cardinal Ratzinger) in 2003, in which he criticized the series’ “subtle seductions” that could “corrupt the Christian faith” in young children. Additionally, an article in the Vatican paper last year further condemned the series’ emphasis on the occult, calling Harry himself “the wrong kind of hero.” From The Telegraph:

L’Osservatore Romano said the movie was the best adaptation yet of the J.K. Rowling books, describing it as “a mixture of supernatural suspense and romance which reaches the right balance.”

“There is a clear line of demarcation between good and evil and [the film] makes clear that good is right. One understands as well that sometimes this requires hard work and sacrifice,” the newspaper judged.

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