An article in today’s edition of the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano condemns J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, despite their apparent similarities to the Christian fantasies of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

In their glorification of witchcraft, the article argues, the Potter books promote a “grave and deep lie … the old Gnostic temptation of confusing salvation and truth with a secret knowledge.”

Pope Benedict himself, when still a cardinal, warned that Rowling’s books could lead children to “lose the spirit of discernment between good and evil.”

*UPDATE: The same issue of L’Osservatore Romano that contains the article mentioned above also features an article that praises Rowling’s books as “an intelligent reading of the epoch that we are living.”

The two articles appear under the common headline, “The Two Faces of Harry Potter.” So whatever Benedict may think, according to his newspaper the subject is open to debate.