The highly controversial movie, The Da Vinci Code has held its world premiere at the 59th Cannes film festival. The divisive book, now made into a certain summer blockbuster, has drawn protests from across the world from Christians due to its content about Jesus Christ. But the team behind the book and film have remained adamant that they would not give in to protestors.

|PIC1|However, the head of the Catholic group Opus Dei, which has been given an image of a secretive murderous sect in the book, has said that he prays every day for author Dan Brown and the people behind the film.

Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez said in an interview that he believed The Da Vinci’s success showed how modern society needed proper spiritual and religious education.

"I pray every day for the writer and also for those people who made the film, because they may not realise that what they say could hurt people and that they are blaspheming," Echevarria told the Catholic newspaper La Croix.

"This phenomenon shows that our society has a great need for transcendence and for aspirations for the beyond. But people will be disappointed because the book and the film do not meet their expectations.

"We see how important religious and spiritual education is. Our contemporaries seem ready to believe just anything. The loss of faith always leads to superstition."

The film, which has angered Christian groups with its story that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had a child with her, received a cold reception from critics at a press screening on Tuesday evening before its opening at the Cannes Film Festival.

A key figure in the story is an Opus Dei member, the murderous and masochistic albino monk Silas. However, in real life, the group has no monks.

|TOP|A Da Vinci Code Response Group, which is made up of priests, theologians and members of Opus Dei, has said it wants the film-version of the novel to carry a disclaimer stating that it is a work of fiction. The group has accused author Dan Brown and the producers of the film of promoting and marketing the work of fiction dishonestly as fact.

A poll was conducted by a Da Vinci Code Response Group has revealed that people who have read Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ are twice as likely to believe the book’s fictional story, that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, than those that have not read it.

The Catholic Church, which has fought against the inaccuracies in the book vigorously, has told that it is particularly worried about the movie-version of the book will undermine people’s beliefs in the Christian doctrine, in light of the study results.

Also of those questioned 60 percent that had read the book believed that there was truth to the suggestions in the book regarding Jesus and Mary Magdalene. This compared to just 30 percent of those that had not read the book.

Readers of the book were also found to be four times more likely to think the Catholic organisation ‘Opus Dei’, featured in the novel, was a murderous sect, than those that had not read the book, with 17 percent of readers polled believing it had, compared with just 4 percent of non-readers. The result was found from a survey of 1,000 people carried out by Opinion Research Business.

|AD|Jack Valero, spokesman for Opus Dei UK, described it as “astonishing”. He said, “Since we were founded in 1928 Opus Dei has promoted the highest moral standards at work, spreading a message of Christian love and understanding, yet the Da Vinci Code has persuaded hundreds of thousands of people that we have blood on our hands,” report Ekklesia.

Opus Dei has not made any pleas for any protests or boycotts, but Valero said, “We have been saying that The Da Vinci Code is harmless fun as long as you don’t take it seriously. But it will be hard for Catholics to enjoy the film knowing that hundreds of thousands do take it seriously.”

The Da Vinci Code Response Group co-ordinator, Dr Austen Ivereigh, who is the Archbishop of Westminster’s Director for Public Affairs, said, “Our poll shows that for many, many people the Da Vinci Code is not just entertainment. For many it is just fiction. But an alarming number of people take its spurious claims very seriously indeed,” according to Ekklesia.

The director of The Da Vinci Code film, Ron Howard, responded to the calls for a disclaimer to be added to the movie, by saying the film did not need one any more than a simple fictional spy movie.

Ivereigh said, “From the start, the marketing strategy behind the Da Vinci Code has been to claim that it is based on respected theories. Brown and Sony have encouraged people to take it seriously, while hiding behind the claim that it is fiction. Our poll shows they should take responsibility for their dishonesty, and issue a health warning.”