Polish priests burn books

2019.04.09

PRIESTS at a Catholic parish in northern Poland (波蘭) have drawn criticism after they burned books, including ones from the Harry Potter series, and other items that their
owners said had evil forces inside them.
Images of the burning at Gdansk’s Mother of Church parish on 31 March were posted on Facebook by the Catholic foundation SMS z Nieba (‘SMS from Heaven’), which uses
unconventional means to carry out its religious work.
In the pictures, flames are seen consuming a wooden African (非洲的) mask, a small Buddhist figure, figurines of elephants, and books on personality and magic, as well as those
by JK Rowling.
They were all brought in by parishioners, who were encouraged by the priests to clear their homes of objects possessing evil forces.
Influential in Poland, the local Catholic Church objects to the Harry Potter books, which are international best-sellers, saying they promote sorcery.
The foundation said the book burning was intended to alert parishioners to bad influences that it says come from magic and the occult.
Many comments under the Facebook postings condemned the book burning, recalling similar acts perpetrated by Nazi Germany (納粹德國) before World War II. Some said this taught
hatred and asked if witches were next in line for burning, like in the Middle Ages.