The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has condemned Harry Potter, the fictional and cinematic character loved by millions of children throughout the world, famous because magic is at the centre of all his adventures. The question has aroused a heated debate in Bulgarian society and in the press. “The adventures of Harry Potter are not a fairy tale, but books that are dangerous to read and that may cause grave harm to children declares the official organ of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the “Religious Gazette” -. In the books of the English writer J.K. Rowling magic is represented as a game and thanks to it the protagonists vanquish evil, something that does not happen in real life. The author has used as her sources not her imagination, but books of white and black magic and other forms of pagan culture”. The Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox world as a whole have also expressed their antipathy to Harry Potter. Books condemning the child magician have also been published by the monastery of Atone, Zograf, and by Orthodox monks in America.
