|TOP|Tom Hanks, main actor of new film 'The Da Vinci Code,' claims that the movie could help ministers increase their congregations by starting a debate that will encourage more people to attend church.

"I think the movie may end up helping churches do their job," The Sun quoted Hanks as telling US magazine Entertainment Weekly.

“I think the movie may end up helping churches do their job. If they put up a sign saying: 'This Wednesday we are discussing the gospel', 12 people show up. But if a sign says: 'This Wednesday we are discussing The Da Vinci Code', 800 people show up.”

|AD|Following the phenomenal success and controversy surrounding The Da Vinci Code, Church Army will send email studies this year informing subscribers of its word-on-the-web ministry about the truth behind the novel and its claims on the Christian faith.

The email studies will provide subscribers with bite-sized studies on particular aspects of the story of The Da Vinci Code and are being purposely timed to coincide with Internet Evangelism Day on May 7th as well as the release of the movie adaptation of the novel.

In addition, a new DVD by the Catholic Church in Scotland is being sent out to hundreds of schools and parishes across the country to help young people make an educated decision about the claims on the Christian in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

The launch of “Debunking the Da Vinci Myths” comes just before the world premiere of the movie version of Brown’s multi-million selling conspiracy novel in Cannes on May 17th.

The DVD features one of the Scottish Catholic Church’s leading intellectuals, Professor Emeritus Patrick Reilly, who likened the inaccuracies of The Da Vinci Code to claiming that John Knox was a child abuser.

Professor Reilly also lambasted the novel and film for its “monumentally inexcusable nonsense” in the DVD that will go out to all 60 Catholic secondary schools and 500 parishes across Scotland, reports Scotland on Sunday.