The Lord of the Rings is an allegorical fairytale. To take it literally is frankly the height of absurdity. Don't read Shakespeare's classic Macbeth because three witches are central to the story. I could go on with many other examples. Allegory is not reality. Literalists fail to see the deeper meaning of texts, that there are different literary styles. A literalist could read Animal Farm and then report the author George Orwell to the RSPCA for animal cruelty.
The Pope quoted Lord of the Rings in his last encyclical Magnifica Humanitis. Leo XIV quotes one of Gandalf’s famous speeches: “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.”
When did i say that to have a witch in a book is contrary to Catholic teaching? When did i say i would not read a book with a witch in it? Witches and wizards perform spells, sorcery, magic ,etc in which the Church condemns. To portray witches or wizards as good is contrary to catholic teaching. And to patronize such books and movies those people condone them. Why would a Catholic be interested in something that goes against what the Church teaches? The Church cost Jesus his life.
