A CATHOLIC SCHOOL in the US has removed Harry Potter books from its library after the school’s priest decided that they could cause a reader to conjure evil spirits.

Local newspaper The Tennessean reports that Reverend Dan Reehil of St Edward Catholic School in Nashville consulted exorcists in the US and Rome who recommended the removal of the books.

“These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception,” Reehil wrote in an email.

“The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.”

Catholic Diocese of Nashville superintendent Rebecca Hammel said that Reehil has the final say at the school, but accepted that the Catholic Church does not have an official position on the popular series of books.

“Each pastor has canonical authority to make such decisions for his parish school,” the newspaper reports her as saying. “He’s well within his authority to act in that manner.”

She also said that she believes the books remain on the shelves of other libraries in the diocese.

“Should parents deem that this or any other media to be appropriate, we would hope that they would just guide their sons and daughters to understand the content through the lens of our faith,” she told The Tennessean. 

With reporting from Associated Press.