Catholic priests at a parish in northern Poland have been criticised for burning books, including from the Harry Potter series, and other items that their owners said had evil forces.

Images from the burning at Gdansk’s Mother of Church parish on Sunday were posted on Facebook by Catholic foundation SMS z Nieba (SMS from Heaven,) which uses unconventional means to carry out its religious work.

In the pictures, flames are seen consuming an African mask, a small Buddhist figure, figurines of elephants and books on personality and magic, as well as those by JK Rowling. Other items burned included a Hello Kitty umbrella and a Hindu religious figurine.

They were all brought in by parishioners, who were encouraged by the priests to clear their homes of objects that had evil forces. The Catholic Church, which is influential in Poland, objects to the best-selling Harry Potter books, saying they promote sorcery.

In the photos, priests and altar boys can be seen watching the burning objects.

The foundation said the book burning was intended to alert parishioners to bad influences that it says come from magic and the occult.

However, many comments under the parish’s Facebook postings condemned the book burning, recalling there were similar incidents in Nazi Germany before World War II.

Some said this taught hatred and asked if the next in line for burning were witches, as in the Middle Ages.

The event was also criticised by the Reverend Wojciech Parafianowicz, spokesman for the diocese of Koszalin, where the foundation is based., He said he “did not like this form of priestly activity, which is wrong”.

But, speaking with the wpolityce.pl news portal, Reverend Parafianowicz said the occult and magic had “a bad influence on human life”.

Dominican friar Pawel Guzynski, a popular Polish commentator on religion, said on Facebook the burning was “rather the fall of wise faith than of unwise superstition”.

-with AAP