Da Vinci Code maligns Christ: Cardinal Vithayathil
May 17, 2006
Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar Church says the controversial film Da Vinci Code distorts history and maligns the adorable person Jesus Christ and his message.
Kochi (ICNS, May 13, 2006) -- Following is a statement that Cardinal Vithayathil issued on Saturday on the controversial film.
I understand that Dan Brown’s novel Da Vinci Code is now released as a film.
I am constrained to state that the novel is purely an imaginative work that distorts history and sacrilegiously maligns the adorable person of Jesus Christ and His message. I would like to make some important points for the sake of people of goodwill who are committed to truth.
1.Jesus’s purported marriage with Mary Magdalene is purely a figment of imagination with absolutely no foundation in history. There is no historical document, Christian or otherwise, to substantiate the claim.
2.The myths of the Holy Grail and Priory of Sion are mere legends with no historical substance. Therefore, the so-called secret and its keepers, including Leonardo Da Vinci, are imaginative creations having no historical veracity.
3.The claim that the Morovingians are the descendents of the girl child of Jesus born to Mary Magdalene smacks of racism, indirectly claiming that the Europeans are some way the descendents of Jesus Christ. This kind of rereading of history is born out of a total lack of honesty regarding historical facts.
4.Christ was never married nor had he any physical descendants. Jesus said, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it" (Lk 8:21). So every person who follows His words is His descendant. These types of sensational things will only help to lower the high sexual morality preached by Jesus Christ who had said, “But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt.5:28).
5.The novel has already created a lot of confusion and pain to people who believe in and honour Jesus Christ. India’s secularism positively respects all religions without showing undue favour to any. In such a country, it is highly deplorable that film of this kind is allowed to be screened, disregarding the religious sentiments of millions of citizens. I would exhort Christians not to be unduly agitated and to pray that this film may never get clearance for publicly screening in our country.
Da Vinci Code maligns Christ: Cardinal Vithayathil