From Rome

Da Vinci Code ad removed from church

April 26, 2006

By John Thavis

Publicity for “The Da Vinci Code” movie has been turning up everywhere in Rome. But when a giant advertisement for the film covered the façade of a downtown church, it was just too much for diocesan officials. Read More...

Papal Preacher Takes on Da Vinci Code

April 17, 2006

By John Thavis

The papal preacher, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, is not one to hold his tongue. In a Good Friday sermon in front of Pope Benedict and other Vatican officials in St. Peter’s Basilica, he took aim at The Da Vinci Code and what he described as an offshoot industry in apocryphal gospels. Read More...

Mary Magdalene

March 10, 2006

By John Thavis, Rome Bureau Chief, Catholic News Service

The Da Vinci Code came in for some resounding criticism at a recent round-table discussion at the Marianum Pontifical Theological Faculty in Rome.

It wasn’t a pick-it-apart session by church historians. Instead, four women spoke about Mary Magdalene, and her distorted depiction in Dan Brown’s book. Read More...

Is The Da Vinci Code on the Vatican’s radar?

February 28, 2006

By John Thavis, Rome Bureau Chief, Catholic News Service

You wouldn’t know it by public pronouncements. Vatican officials have said little or nothing about the book, which has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, or the upcoming movie, expected to open the Cannes Film Festival in May.

The dominant school of thought at the Vatican is that it’s always best to ignore a book or film that presents the church unfairly. Read More...