Pope: “Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone Is Also Badly Translated”

December 12, 2017 by  
Filed under Vatican

Credit: Malacañang Photo Bureau

 

Pope Francis has called for the renaming of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, saying current translations that changed it from the original “Philosopher’s Stone” to “Sorcerer’s Stone” does not make sense.

Read by millions of people across the world, the young adult fantasy novel has become a staple read in many homes. But in a recent interview, Pope Francis said that the word “Sorcerer” should be changed because it has been translated badly.

“It’s not a good translation because the Philosopher’s Stone is an actual legend dating back to 300ad whereas the Sorcerer’s Stone was simply made up,” he told TV2001. “The changing of the name implies that American children are too stupid to understand the word or, if not stupid, than clearly not being given the opportunity to learn a new word. The Harry Potter publisher Scholastic is essentially saying that American teachers actively push their students to fail. But it’s not teachers pushing anyone to fail. A teacher doesn’t do that—a teacher helps you learn how to open a dictionary.”

Last month, publishers in France agreed to switch from “Sorcerer” to “Philosopher.” The pope said he was impressed with the new wording.