Dufferin-Peel adds disclaimer to Golden Compass

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Where Halton opted for a ban, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board has decided to go with a note.

The Catholic school board in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon will paste a note in the front cover of each book in the His Dark Materials trilogy explaining that the books “in no way represent the reality of the Roman Catholic Church.”

On the strength of a complaint just before the release of The Golden Compass movie in December, the Halton Catholic District School Board banned the three award-winning Philip Pullman novels from all its libraries, despite a recommendation from its own review committee that the book merely be restricted to high school students.

The board’s disclaimer reads: “Representations of the church in this novel are purely fictional; the council, the officials and the God in the novel in no way represent the reality of the Roman Catholic Church to which we are blessed to be members.”