From the Times:
The Vatican has banned the makers of a prequel to The Da Vinci Code from filming in its grounds or any church in Rome, describing the work as “an offence against God”.
Angels and Demons, the latest Dan Brown thriller to be turned into a film, includes key episodes that take place in the Vatican and Rome’s churches. Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, the head of the Vatican’s Prefecture for Economic Affairs, said that Brown had “turned the gospels upside down to poison the faith”.
“It would be unacceptable to transform churches into film sets so that his blasphemous novels can be made into films in the name of business,” he said, adding that Brown’s work “wounds common religious feelings”.
This is my favorite part:
Father Marco Fibbi, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rome, said: “Normally we read the script but this time it was not necessary. The name Dan Brown was enough.”
The real question is how they got into a church for the scenes in the first movie. I wonder what Hanks's Eastern brethren think of his participation in promoting blasphemy.
This phenomenon reminds me of a story. Basically, St. Nicholas (yes, Santa Claus) was at the Council of Nicea when Arius stood up and began a shpiel about how Jesus was a created being and therefore not God. St. Nicholas responded by rising from his chair, walking across the room, and back-handing Arius to the floor. Not that I think Hanks & Co. should be back-handed (though CastAway, The Terminal, Philadelphia, and You've Got Mail are reasons enough for some sort of beating by themselves), but it shows you how seriously folks took blasphemy back then.
When we see secularists, Jehovah's Witnesses, or whoever making comments like this, we should at least be outraged and mad. Sad to say, I think the more typical reaction is apathy.
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