By Alison Snyder
Dan Brown''s book 'The Da Vinci Code' is a well-known bestseller that, despite being a fictitious novel, casts the Roman Catholic Church in a light that is all but positive.
The novel''s premise is that a large portion of Catholic doctrine is false and the Catholic Church has been involved in a conspiracy to cover up the truth about a different religion Jesus established to honor 'the sacred feminine.'
According to the book, Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus, and evidence of their offspring is proof that, if brought to light, would undermine the Catholic notion of Christ''s divinity.
'Not only was she the woman to whom Jesus had assigned the task of founding the church, but she also had physical proof that the church''s newly proclaimed deity had spawned a mortal bloodline,' says the character Sir Leigh Teabing on page 274 of Brown''s novel.
Both of these claims are contrary to Catholic doctrine.
'There''s nothing to substantiate the ideas presented in it . It''s sensationalism,' said Father Rooney of the St. Andres Catholic Church in Payson. 'It makes as much sense as UFOs. It''s science fiction.'
Today, Brown''s interpretation of Catholic history, as well as his fanatical depiction of the conservative Catholic institution Opus Dei, will be presented to audiences worldwide in a movie based on his novel. According to the 'Wall Street Journal,' the movie has a marketing budget of $40 million in the United States alone.
Recently, in a conference in Rome, the Vatican urged Catholics around the world to boycott the upcoming movie. Archbishop Angelo Amato, the No. 2 official in the Vatican doctrinal office, called the book 'stridently anti-Christian, full of calumnies, offenses and historical and theological errors regarding Jesus, the Gospels and the Church' at the conference.
The Vatican isn''t the only entity speaking out against 'The Da Vinci Code.'
In the Philippines, where 80 percent of the population is Catholic, government censors gave the movie an 'adults only' rating, due to the plot''s speculation that Jesus fathered a child. Christian groups in Greece, India and Thailand have also taken to the streets in protest, in an effort to block or shorten screenings. Government censors in Thailand have ordered the final 10 minutes of the film to be cut.
'Not only is this an anti-Catholic bias he writes from, it''s anti-Christian,' wrote Mark Shea in his book called 'The Da Vinci Deception.' 'He has portrayed faithful Catholics as deceptive, murderous, psychopathic, obese and corrupt, ignorant and afraid of science.'
The book portrays the Catholic institution Opus Dei as a secretive organization whose members participate in self-mutilation and use crime as a vehicle to achieve what they perceive as God''s will.
'The Da Vinci Code' is historically inaccurate, makes assumptions and ignores facts of history,' said Susan Northway, the Diocesan director of Religious Education in Salt Lake City. 'It attempts to cloak itself in a scholarly fashion, but in fact, it is loaded with errors in history. Opus Dei''s purpose is to live a quiet holy life, to work and to spread the gospel. This is a quiet organization that does a lot of good.'
Opus Dei literally means 'the work of God.' Josemar?a Escriv?, canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1992, established Opus Dei in Spain in 1928.
The mission of the institution is 'to help people turn their work and daily activities into occasions for growing closer to God, for serving others and for improving society,' according to the Opus Dei Web site.
The Web site also states that there are about 85,000 members of both genders in Opus Dei and 98 percent of its members are not clergy. The majority of members are married.
'I feel Dan Brown misrepresents the organization Opus Dei,' said Alonzo Gaskill, a professor of world religion at BYU. 'It''s depicted as very secretive, very fanatical and pretty warped. Its primary goal, as its name implies, is to do the work of God and sanctify the world. It''s not seeking to do that in some mystical way.'
He said Opus Dei members participate in good community work and their lifestyles are not much different than the lives of Latter-day Saints.
'I''ve always been bothered by anti-Mormon representations of the LDS church,' Gaskill said. 'Likewise when I read ''The Da Vinci Code'' I felt that basically Dan Brown had done the equivalent as it pertains to Opus Dei. I have no doubt that some who will read his book will then have negative feelings of distrust of both Opus Dei and Catholicism because of how they''re represented in ''The Da Vinci Code.'''
Northway of the Salt Lake Catholic Diocese suggested students study history as well as scriptures to discern the truth.
'In the gospel of John, Jesus says, ''And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,''' she said. ' In ''The Da Vinci Code,'' truth will be known by people if they have any inquiry in their minds and they look at history. They will look at Christianity and the Catholic faith in the book and the truth itself of Jesus'' teachings will shine forth. They don''t have to pay attention to things that are evil.'
NewsNet recently facilitated a discussion with members from the religious community as well as representatives of local museums. A video of the discussion is available on the NewsNet Web site at http://newsnet.byu.edu/sto-
ry.cfm/50175.
More information about the reactions of Opus Dei and the Roman Catholic Church to 'The Da Vinci Code':
www.opusdei.org
www.ourfaithinaction.org
www.dioslc.org