Pope Benedict XVI has condemned the Harry Potter books as "subtle seductions," capable of corrupting young Christians, in two letters which have now been published online.

However, despite criticism from the pontiff, it would appear the boy wizard Harry has built a fanbase close to the headquarters of Catholicism. Amazon.co.uk, the online bookseller, today revealed it had received advance orders for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, published on Saturday, from over 90 countries - including the Vatican.

The Pope's comments were included in two letters to Gabriele Kuby, the German religious author, who had sent him a copy of her book, Harry Potter - gut oder böse? (Harry Potter: Good or Evil?)

In one response, dated March 2003, he wrote in German: "It is good that you enlighten us on the Harry Potter matter, for these are subtle seductions that are barely noticeable, and precisely because of that have a deep effect and corrupt the Christian faith in souls even before it could properly grow."

He also thanked the author for her "instructive" book, in which Frau Kuby says the hugely popular Potter novels risk corrupting young people, preventing them from developing a proper sense of good and evil. She argued this could harm a child's developing relationship with God.

In a second letter sent to Kuby on May 27, 2003, Cardinal Ratzinger "gladly" gave his permission for Frau Kuby to make public "my judgement about Harry Potter."

He also encouraged her to send her book to the Vatican prelate.

The letters, parts of which had already been made public, have been published on the LifeSiteNews site just days before the publication of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

"We do note that these letters were written some time ago and certainly way before he became Pope," said Neil Blair, a spokesman for Christopher Little, JK Rowling’s literary agent.

It is not the first time Harry Potter and Pope Benedict have gone head-to-head. Earlier this year the Pope's new book Salz der Erde (Salt of the Earth) overtook advance sales of The Half-Blood Prince in the German bestseller list with a five-figure print run being ordered to meet demand.

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