Currently Listening St. Elsewhere By Gnarls Barkley see related

HARRY Potter is downright evil - hiding "the signature of the king of darkness, the devil" - according to the Vatican's chief demon-basher.

Father Gabriele Amorth, who is Pope Benedict XVI's senior exorcist, claims UK author J.K. Rowling's global hit books contain innumerable positive references to magic, "the satanic art".

"Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil," he told Vatican Radio.

And according to the Daily Mail newspaper in London, he added the books attempt to make a false distinction between black and white magic, when in fact, the distinction "does not exist, because magic is always a turn to the devil".

Amorth, who is president of the International Association of Exorcists, also said Adolf Hitler and Russian leader Joseph Stalin were possessed by the devil, and that Pope Pius XII once tried to perform a long-distance exorcism on Hitler.

"I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler - and Stalin did. Almost certainly they were possessed by the devil.

"You can tell by their behavior and their actions, from the horrors they committed and the atrocities that were committed on their orders. That's why we need to defend society from demons."

According to secret Vatican documents recently released, wartime pontiff Pope Pius XII attempted a "long distance" exorcism of Hitler, which failed to have any effect, the Daily Mail reported.

Amorth said: "It's very rare that praying and attempting to carry out an exorcism from distance works.

"Of course you can pray for someone from a distance but in this case it would not have any effect.

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Been a while.  Thought this was funny.