'Harry Potter' Banned From Catholic School, Risk of 'Conjuring Evil Spirits' Priest Warns

The "Harry Potter" series is one of the bestselling children book franchises of all-time, but you won't find the fantasy novels at St. Edward Catholic School in Nashville.

The Roman Catholic parish school has removed all seven volumes about the magical adventures of a boy wizard and his friends from their new library because the head pastor believes the curses and spells in the book are not only real but pose a supernatural threat to the students.

In an email, Rev. Dan Reehil, a pastor at St. Edward, wrote that the J.K. Rowling book series puts readers at risk of "conjuring evil spirits," according to the Nashville Tennessean.

"These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception," the email, obtained by WBIF, stated. "The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text."

"I have consulted several exorcists, both in the United States and in Rome, and they have recommended removing the books from circulation," Reehil continued.

The books "glorify acts of divination; of conjuring the dead, of casting spells among other acts that are an offense to the virtue of religion -- to the love and respect we owe to God alone," he added. "Many reading these books could be persuaded to believe these acts are perfectly fine, even good or spiritually healthy."

The pastor concluded that the "Harry Potter" books "present a possible threat to our faith [that] will not be promoted by our church or school."

Read Reehil's full email here.

Rebecca Hammel, the superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Nashville, confirmed to the publication Reehil sent the email regarding the book ban following an inquiry from a parent. Hammel added that Reehil notified faculty.

However, according to the superintendent, Reehil, as the school's pastor, has the final say on the "Harry Potter" books, since the Catholic Church doesn't have an official position on them. Hammel also expressed that she believes the novels are in other school libraries in the dioceses. They were previously available in St. Edward's old library.

"Each pastor has canonical authority to make such decisions for his parish school," Hammel said. "He's well within his authority to act in that manner."

"Should parents deem that this or any other media to be appropriate we would hope that they would just guide their sons and daughters to understand the content through the lens of our faith," she added. "We really don't get into censorship in such selections other than making sure that what we put in our school libraries is age-appropriate materials for our classrooms."

The "Harry Potter" books -- which were published between 1997 and 2007 and sprouted a blockbuster eight-installment film franchise -- are still considered controversial in some religious circles and have been banned before.

In fact, Rowling's fantasy series was one of the most challenged books between 1990 and 1999, and was the most-challenged book from 2000 to 2009, according to the American Library Association.

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