"Boycott Da Vinci Code film" says top Vatican official

[AliceInWonderland]

I'm so sick of the "Vatican"! Seriously; get a life, go do some good w/ your wealth instead of funding all these public relations wars and shit

Boycott Da Vinci Code film": top Vatican official
By Philip Pullella

The Vatican stepped up its offensive against "The Da Vinci Code" on Friday when a top official close to Pope Benedict blasted the book as full of anti-Christian lies and urged Catholics to boycott the film.

The latest broadside came from Archbishop Angelo Amato, the number two official in the Vatican doctrinal office which was headed by Pope Benedict until his election last year.

Amato, addressing a Catholic conference in Rome, called the book "stridently anti-Christian .. full of calumnies, offences and historical and theological errors regarding Jesus, the Gospels and the Church."

He added: "I hope that you all will boycott the film."

The movie, which is being released by Sony Pictures division Columbia Pictures, stars Tom Hanks and premieres next month at the Cannes film festival in France. Sony Pictures is the media wing of Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).

Amato said the book, written by Dan Brown, had been hugely successful around the world thanks in part to what he called "the extreme cultural poverty on the part of a good number of the Christian faithful."

The book has sold over 40 million copies.

The novel is an international murder mystery centered on attempts to uncover a secret about the life of Christ that a clandestine society has tried to protect for centuries.

The central tenet of the book is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children.

In his address to the group, Amato said Christians should be more willing "to reject lies and gratuitous defamation."

He said that if "such lies and errors had been directed at the Koran or the Holocaust they would have justly provoked a world uprising."

He added: "Instead, if they are directed against the Church and Christians, they remain unpunished."

Amato suggested that Catholics around the world should launch organized protests against the "The Da Vinci Code" film just as some had done in 1988 to protest against Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ."

LATEST BROADSIDE

Amato's broadside was just the latest blast against the book and the film.

Just before Easter, another Vatican official railed against it at an event attended by Pope Benedict, branding the book and its film version as just more examples of Jesus being sold out by a wave of what he called "pseudo-historic" art.

Catholic group Opus Dei has told Sony Pictures that putting a disclaimer on the movie stressing it is a work of fiction would be a welcome show of respect toward the Church.

In the novel and film, Opus Dei is characterized as the latest in a series of secretive groups that worked over the centuries to obscure truths about Jesus Christ.

Opus Dei is a controversial conservative Church group whose members are mostly non-clerics and are urged to seek holiness in their everyday professional jobs and lives. It has rejected criticisms that it is secretive and elitist.

With the movie's opening less than a month away, Opus Dei and other Christian groups have been sponsoring Web sites and events telling people the novel should not be believed.

The book is a thriller in which the main characters must uncover clues they hope will lead them to an important religious relic. Their adversary is an Opus Dei member.



Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.


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It was an entertaining book and will probably be a fun movie; quit being jealous of others who are against your bullshit dogmas and do what Jesus would have done...for once.

[AliceInWonderland]

yah me too!

[tinasilva]

LOL! I'm Christian and I'm still going to see it. We all should be open to different view points of what has been through history.

I don't see the problem really if they did say it was fiction...but then again why is the Vatican insisting to boycott or have nothing to do with the story if they didn't have something to hide that has been protected for many years. Makes you think....

[angelais]

I was a practicing Catholic. 'nuff said.

[Grimmlok]

Maybe they should spend more time, oh I don't know.. not fucking little boys than urging people to boycott a work of fiction.

If it IS fiction..

[AliceInWonderland]

Maybe they should spend more time, oh I don't know.. not fucking little boys than urging people to boycott ..

EXACTLY! they have all this fuckin wealth and imo they cause more harm than good in this world, urging people in 3rd world countries to overpopulate, little boys and girls abused, nonsense sexism, hate mongering, etc. etc. etc.

[chartreuse]

i say boycott the vatican!

[MrsDark]

All the MORE reason to go watch it!

[ourmaninBusan]

I wasn't going to see it anyway. It's a Ron Howard film, for god's sake.
The man is a dolt. He should be directing TV; he may have a gift
for handling actors but he doesn't wring greatness out of them.
He's an idiot.

AMUSING ANECDOTE:
Jennifer Jason Leigh, one of the stars of "Backdraft," said she really
wished she'd had the part of the fire, because it got the most
flattering photography and the best close-ups.

[A*O]

The Vatican does seem to be wildly over-reacting to a movie based on a work of fiction which does indeed make you wonder if they are worried about something. However, the world and his dog have read the book by now so I can't see what harm a movie of the book is going to do. The Truth is already out there................

[Grimmlok]

the truth is that the Vatican can suck my cawk.

.. if they can tear themselves away from the young boys.

[Luna]

I'm a reformed Catholic, well my family are supposed Catholics but non practicing. I've visited The Vatican and it's TACKY. Bunch of fucking hypocrites.

[sarah87]

The Vatican wants CHRISTIANS to boycott the movie, not everybody else. Do what you want if you aren't a Christian, nobody is stopping you. As for the debate behind WHY they want Christians to boycott, they want us to boycott (yes I am a Christian) because even though it is a fiction book, the author based it on their beliefs as a non-christian. As Christians, we believe differently than what the book talks about.

Sarah C.

[A*O]

It IS possible to read a book that discusses a topic that you don't personally agree with or believe in and not be 'corrupted' by it. If my church leaders told me what I could and could not read I would have a major problem with it. If you don't, that's up to you.

[Grimmlok]

Yeah, boycotting a movie or book because it is a work of fiction based on something you believe in seems rather small and petty.

The adult and mature thing to do would be to invite discussion on the matter, and treat it for what it is: fiction.

By freaking out, you legitimize it.