Vatican Pissed Off About Da Vinci Code

[bloodrayne]

"Boycott Da Vinci Code Film" Top Vatican Official

Rome - 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.

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."

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.

[AUSTIN316426808]

Well, all they've probably succeeded in if anything is throwing another couple hundred million to the film. All the bitching that the Passion got did was put 600 million dollars into Mel Gibson's pocket.

[knife_fight]

I know this isn't the subject, but when I finally got around to seeing the Last Temptation of Christ I was disappointed in how pro-Christian ideology there was in the movie.



***spoiler for a movie that is about 20 years old***


the whole movie is about Jesus contemplating the Debbil's temptation to come off the cross and lead a "normal" life raising kids and whatnot. but at the end of the movie, Jesus rejects Debbil's attempt. now, I'm no biblical scholar, but doesn't that pretty much jive with what the bible says? or am I completely off-base?

[The STE]

Originally posted by knife_fight
I know this isn't the subject, but when I finally got around to seeing the Last Temptation of Christ I was disappointed in how pro-Christian ideology there was in the movie.



***spoiler for a movie that is about 20 years old***


the whole movie is about Jesus contemplating the Debbil's temptation to come off the cross and lead a "normal" life raising kids and whatnot. but at the end of the movie, Jesus rejects Debbil's attempt. now, I'm no biblical scholar, but doesn't that pretty much jive with what the bible says? or am I completely off-base?

I wasn't dissapointed in how pro-Christian it was because I didn't think it was going to be anti-Christian (Scorsese is a Catholic). All it did to me was reinforce how stupid all the hoopla was.

BTW, I still don't give a shit about the Da Vinci Code

[The_Return]

They've obviously never heared the says "There is no bad press".

Anyway, I'll probably rent this once it's on DVD, but I dont plan to read it or rush to theatres.

[mothermold]

Originally posted by bloodrayne
"Boycott Da Vinci Code Film" Top Vatican Official

Rome - 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.

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."

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.

Their just pissed they did'nt get top billing.

[bwind22]

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."

This is exactly what I was thinking while I was reading this article. Of course Christians have a right to be mad about this. It basically goes against everything they have based their religion on for the past 2000 years.

I guarantee it would not sit well with the Muslims of the world if a movie came out showing Mohammed doing and particpating in things that he is said to be against. (Sorta like Jesus being married to a prostitute, which is what the Da Vinci code says.)

I don't have any interest in this movie or the book. I might end up renting it someday on a whim, but I'm not exactly looking forward to this movie or anything...