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The Da Vinci CatechismThe Da Vinci Code is only a novel. It is not a source of serious information, but it does raise some serious questions. 1. Was Jesus Christ really married?Yes. Jesus was married to the Church. In the New Testament, Jesus is frequently referred to as the Bridegroom, and St. Paul tells us: “a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh. This is a tremendous mystery. I’m applying it to Christ and the Church.” (Ephesians 5:31-32) In fact, the Christian vocation is nothing less than...

DAN Brown’s bestseller, The Da Vinci Code, was first published in 2003. By April 2005 it had sold 17 million copies in 44 languages and it is still selling well, as any traveller by plane, bus or train will confirm. It is a novel of the popular, conspiracy theory type. The central thesis is that “the Church” has covered up the fact that Mary Magdalene married Christ. Christ’s divinity was a myth invented by Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD and the pair had descendants. Brown suggests that Mary Magdalene’s character was unjustly impugned by “the Church” in...

The Da Vinci Code director Ron Howard has rejected demands by Opus Dei to attach a disclaimer to his would-be blockbuster labeling the film as a work of fiction, spurring a rebuke from the religious sect. "It's not theology. It's not history. To start off with a disclaimer...Spy thrillers don't start off with disclaimers," Howard told the Los Angeles Times in Sunday's edition. ... "It's very controversial," Howard said. "What Dan Brown did with the novel, we didn't back away from in making the movie. I think what a lot of people have discovered--a lot of theologians--is this is a...

Are you one of those curious types who after reading The Da Vinci Code want to see what is really inside an Opus Dei center, the group author Dan Brown mistakenly claims harbors sadistic albino assassins? While I certainly wouldn't classify myself as a "sadistic albino assassin," I would say that it is indeed quite easy to see the inside of an Opus Dei center. In fact, in Madrid I simply called up and asked to come over for a visit. Nobody turned me down, and I imagine that's the way it is around the world. Indeed, it is so...

In early March, Elizabeth Heil, an arts-administration graduate student at Columbia University, was watching previews in a movie theater on Manhattan's Upper West Side when she cracked up inappropriately. The trailer was for the movie The Da Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard and scheduled to open May 19, and it featured a grim-faced fellow uttering Christ's name repeatedly and then--wham!--whaling away at his already bloodied back with an Inquisition-issue cat-o'-nine-tails. It was not an intentionally funny scene. But Heil, who was familiar with the book on which the movie is based, recognized the figure onscreen as the albino assassin...

Italian magazine publishes blasphemous cartoonROME: An Italian magazine close to the influential Catholic conservative Opus Dei group has published a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in an objectionable manner, sparking outrage among Muslim associations here.Cartoons by 12 artists first published in a Danish newspaper last September and later reprinted in a number of other mainly European dailies sparked Muslim protests worldwide. Studi Cattolici editor Cesare Cavalleri told ANSA: "I hope the publication of this drawing won’t lead to attacks, because if that happened it would only prove the idiotic positions" of Islamic extremists."Sometimes a politically incorrect satirical cartoon can...

A new video showing the real Opus Dei will be released in New York on April 19 by the St. Josemaría Institute, with the title "Passionately Loving the World: Ordinary Americans Living the Spirituality of St. Josemaría." The new program features Opus Dei members and cooperators talking about their lives, giving an inside view of how they see themselves and how they try to live their faith. “With The Da Vinci Code being released on May 19, Opus Dei has received a lot of attention,” said Terri Carron, a spokesperson. “This video is a way to show how Saint Josemaría...

ROME (AP) - The conservative religious group Opus Dei has asked for a disclaimer on the upcoming film based on the best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code." Opus Dei, portrayed as a murderous, power-hungry sect in the novel by Dan Brown, wrote in an April 6 letter to Sony Corp. (SNE) that a disclaimer would show respect to Jesus and to the Catholic Church. "Any such decision by Sony would be a gesture of respect toward the figure of Jesus, to the history of the Church and to the religious beliefs of viewers," Opus Dei wrote in the letter, which...

Font Size: Vidal Baboon By Scott Galupo  Published   03/18/2002   TCS  ALEXANDRIA, VA - Gore Vidal is a weird hybrid, an intellectual schizophrenic with equal affection for radical leftists like Noam Chomsky and America Firsters like Charles Lindbergh. In a 1992 lecture at Harvard University, Vidal described the radical half of his brain this way: "I am a radical reformer. The word 'radical' derives from the Latin word for root. Therefore, if you want to get to the root of anything you must be radical. It is no accident that the word has now been totally demonized by our masters,...

Opus Dei, which has protested its portrayal in "The Da Vinci Code," has embarked on an image-polishing campaign that includes its own book, a report said. New York-based Opus Dei is portrayed as a secretive Roman Catholic organization in the book by author Dan Brown and movie set for release in May, in which fictional assassin Silas is an Opus Dei monk.

So here I am facing another Minnesota winter, looking to expand my mind. Naturally I turn to "The Winter & Spring 2006 Community Education Catalog" of the Eden Prairie, Minnesota public schools, where I see the very first course offering is Da Vinci Code Historical Seminar Did you find the historical events in the 2003 fictional best-seller interesting but too fantastic to believe? Actually, most of the background items cited in the book were tied to events purportedly recorded in history. I struggled with "purportedly recorded" for a while, but decided to move on. As the rest of the description...

Code: ZE05122523 Date: 2005-12-25 Opus Dei on John Allen's New Book We're "Neither Angels nor Demons," Says Spokesman ROME, DEC. 25, 2005 (Zenit.org).- An Opus Dei spokesman has expressed satisfaction with a new book on the personal prelature written by an American journalist. Marc Carroggio, who oversees Opus Dei's relationship with international journalists in Rome, said he was satisfied with the book just published by John Allen. "Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church" has been published so far in English, Portuguese and Korean. Carroggio told ZENIT that...

ROME -- Sure, Peter Bancroft said, he does use a small, cotton whip to lash his back or buttocks once a week (in private). And yes, most days he wears an abrasive metal chain around his thigh for a couple of hours that causes him discomfort but no lasting damage. But no, neither he nor anyone in Opus Dei is a pain-loving murderer like Dan Brown's villain in the enormously successful novel "The Da Vinci Code." "As soon as you meet an Opus Dei member," said Bancroft, sitting in an ornate room in the headquarters of the conservative Catholic lay...

A letter sent by Bishop Javier Echevarría to the members of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, the faithful of the Prelature of Opus Dei, cooperators and friends.10 April 2005 My dear children: may Jesus watch over my daughters and sons for me! I feel the need to write you once again, just a week after my last letter, because of the events we have witnessed during these days, which are a grace from God for his Church. Together with the other shepherds of the People of God, I ask that all of us may deeply assimilate the marvelous...

MADRID, Spain (AP) - As cardinals prepare to elect a new pope, one Catholic community in particular has much at stake - Opus Dei, the ultraconservative movement at the center of the furor generated by "The Da Vinci Code."Founded in Spain in 1928, the movement has more than 80,000 members worldwide, many of them lay people but also hundreds of priests, bishops and even two cardinals among those who will be casting votes in Rome.Its mission, to give lay people a dynamic role in spreading the word of God, enjoyed firm support from John Paul II who championed the movement...

The National Catholic Reporter´s Rome correspondent John Allen is about to publish a study of Opus Dei that challenges its common depiction as a secretive and sinister cult within the Catholic Church. An interview with Allen in Newsweek focuses on the book´s role as an answer to the view of Opus Dei in Dan Brown’s best-selling thriller, The Da Vinci Code. Opus Dei, it says, is a secretive society of men and women who have sought political power to further the interests of a wealthy elite. The book, and Allen, have been praised by conservatives who are normally hostile to...

Ethics & Religionby Michael J. McManus Return to Column Index August 2, 2003 Column #1,144 Father John McCloskey: Catholic Evangelist America's most successful Catholic evangelist since Bishop Fulton J. Sheen is not at all as famous as the bishop was in the 1950s with a weekly network TV show. You have probably never heard of Father C. John McCloskey. However, consider some of his converts: - Dr. Bernard Nathanson, founder of the National Abortion Rights Action League, who was personally involved in 75,000 abortions, before becoming a prominent pro-life advocate with the book "Aborting America" and the stunning video,...

by Pete Vere, JCL Other Articles by Pete Vere, JCL Sifting the Wheat from the Tares: 20 Signs of Trouble in a New Religious Group 03/01/05 Since the closing of the Second Vatican Council, a number of new groups have arisen within the Church. Whereas many new groups start off on the right foot and maintain solid footing, others fall by the wayside. This may be due to poor doctrine or questionable practices. In This Article...Red Flags and Warning SignsFr. Morrisey’s 15 Warning SignsFive Additional Warning Signs from the International Cultic Studies Association Red Flags and Warning Signs As a canon...

Catholics welcome staunch conservative as the top priest in San Antonio Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle San Antonio Bureau SAN ANTONIO - South Texas Catholics filled San Fernando Cathedral on Tuesday night for the solemn installation of Archbishop Jose H. Gomez as their spiritual leader. Gomez, 53, was born in Mexico, educated in Europe and ministered in Houston before serving as an auxiliary bishop in Denver. In December the Vatican chose him to succeed Archbishop Patrick Flores, who last year reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 after more than 25 years as archbishop. About 250 priests, bishops and archbishops joined...

<p>Sickness is not preventing John Paul II from fighting out his last battle. But in the meantime, maneuvers over his succession are underway.</p> <p>In short, two or three Italian candidates might enter the conclave and jockey for leadership, as happened between Giuseppe Siri and Giovanni Benelli in the memorable head-to-head of the second conclave of 1978, the one from which a new man, Wojtyla, finally emerged.</p>