Cyprus Church vs Harry Potter
NICOSIA (AFP) – Believing Harry Potter casts a devilish spell over children, leading members of the Cyprus Orthodox Church yesterday called for the film «Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets» to be banned from local cinemas. The Alithia daily quoted Paphos Bishop Chrysostomos and a suffragan bishop as saying the latest Harry Potter film «promotes sorcery and witchcraft.» Chrysostomos told Alithia that the movie «familiarized children with evil, witchcraft, occultism, demonology and cultivated fear.» Nevertheless, Cypriots are still flocking to see the second Harry Potter film and the series of books, translated into Greek, are also selling like hotcakes on the island. The film’s distributors told AFP that «Chamber of Secrets» has far outsold the first film «Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,» selling 10,000 tickets on the first weekend. Harry Potter is expected to top the agenda when the church synod meets in February. The church’s highest body is expected to appeal to the authorities to ban the film, the Paphos Bishop said.
