Catholics line up to battle Da Vinci Code

Websites, TV show debunk bestseller

- CNS photo/courtesy of CCC A re-enactment of the Last Supper is filmed as part of the new documentary Jesus Decoded. The show , produced by the U.S. Catholic Communication Campaign, will br released about the same time as The Da Vinci Code movie.

By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News

In theatres, as coming attractions previews start including trailers for The Da Vinci Code movie, the so-called "truth squads" have positioned themselves to combat lies and distortions likely to be repeated in the film."

Rather than organize protests or boycotts, evangelicals and Catholics are mobilizing "truth squads" reads a headline in the Christian Science Monitor March 22.

In fact, a whole industry has sprung up in the wake of Dan Brown's blockbuster novel by the same name and is gaining momentum as the movie nears its May 19 release date.

Among the truth squads, however, there is a debate about tactics. At a website sponsored by Sony Pictures, www.thedavincidialogue.com, Christian apologists are saying go see the movie and use it as a teaching moment. Others argue Sony is co-opting them as a marketing ploy. They say stay home.

Opus Dei, a Catholic organization maligned in the book, is urging people donate to African relief rather than protest or boycott.

Because the Catholic Church bears the brunt of The Da Vinci Code's fake history, Catholics are at the forefront of the truth squads.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched a website to debunk The Da Vinci Code claims at www.jesusdecoded.com. A film version of the book is slated for U.S. release May 19.

Truth vs. fiction

The site contains information that refutes claims made in the book about the nature of Jesus; his relationship with Mary Magdalene; the first four ecumenical councils of the early Church and how they shaped today's teaching about Jesus; contemporaneous accounts of Jesus' life that were not selected for the New Testament; the role of women in the Church throughout history; and the Last Supper paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and other artists of his era.

The program includes interviews with international scholars versed in art, history and Scripture who "help separate Catholic truth from popular fiction."

The site also has production information on the CCC's Jesus Decoded TV special, including information on air dates and times. It has been offered to NBC affiliates.

- CNS photo/courtesy of CCC This is the DVD cover of the new documentary Jesus Decoded. The show , produced by the U.S. Catholic Communication Campaign, documents the authentic teaching about Jesus Christ.

Catholic screenwriter Barbara Nicolosi may have the most effective strategy. She says go to the theatre on opening weekend. But don't see The Da Vinci Code. Instead, take your friends and family to see Over the Hedge, an animated feature DreamWorks is releasing at the same time.

"The box office is a ballot box," Nicolosi wrote recently on her blog Church of the Masses (churchofthemasses.blogspot.com). "The only people whose votes are counted are those who buy tickets. And the ballot box closes on the Sunday of opening weekend."

Opus Dei's Canadian vicar believes the movie creates an opportunity.

Montreal-based Msgr. Fred Dolan said he expects director Ron Howard will make a "beautiful movie," at least from a visual point of view.

"What we have to do is pray that the visual beauty of the movie inspires people to go back to their own roots, to ask What about Jesus? What about the beginnings of Christianity? What were the first followers of Jesus like, what did they believe?"

"If we can accomplish this, it will be fantastic," he says. "God can take things that are seemingly very negative and turn them to good use."

According to Nicolosi, however, the movie will be offensive. She has seen the script, which she describes as "somewhere between idiotic and way too cute."

"It is a movie which begins from the point that Jesus was a fraud," she warns. "He was not only not divine, he was less than a man, who didn't die and rise to save humanity, but rather settled down in Nazareth suburbia and fathered children.

"Oh yes, and the Christian Church which made up all the salvific Messiah stuff about him is a sham association of megalomaniacal conspirators whose unifying principles are in the oppression of women."

Even the DVC trailer - and response to it - is raising alarms.

Matt Pinto, in an email posted on Nicolosi's blog, reported what happened when a co-worker went to the theatre recently.

"The preview for The Da Vinci Code came on, and moviegoers were treated to a fast-paced, heart-pumping two minutes of excitement and suspense," he writes. "The preview, which included scenes of a murder and an Opus Dei 'monk' whipping and cutting himself, ended with the phrase, 'Seek the Truth.'

"But what came next was totally unexpected: A rousing applause from perhaps 200 people in the audience. A few people even stood up."

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