A guide on how to convert witches to Christianity has been published by the Roman Catholic Church in Britain.
The
move comes in response to fears that growing numbers of teenagers are
being lured into Wicca, occult practices and paganism by the heroic
depiction of witches in entertainment including the Harry Potter and The
Sorcerer’s Apprentice films, and TV.
The booklet, called Wicca
and Witchcraft: Understanding the Dangers, offers parents advice on what
to do if one of their children takes an interest in witchcraft.
It also instructs on ‘how to evangelise a witch’ should readers come
across such a person in their circle of friends or at the local pub.
The
guide, published by the Catholic Truth Society, the UK
publishers to the Holy See, was written by Elizabeth Dodd, a former
Oxford Wiccan who converted to the Catholic faith.
She said nearly 70 per cent of Wicca practitioners are young women seeking some kind of spirituality.
Behind
the glamour there were ‘grave dangers’ because of its link to the
occult and the sinister movement championed by satanist Aleister
Crowley, she said.
She added: ‘Recognition that Wiccans are
on a genuine spiritual quest can provide the starting point for dialogue
that may lead to their conversion.’
Some 7,000 of 31,000
neo-pagans identified themselves as Wiccans in the 2001 census but the
figure is believed to be far higher.