Christians divided over how to greet 'Da Vinci Code' film

A group of prominent English Roman Catholics is saying the release of the film The Da Vinci Code is not a threatbut a chance to explain their faith.

They're at odds with the Vatican, where an official close to Pope Benedict XVI called for a boycott of the film.

Archbishop Angelo Amato, the No. 2 official in the Vatican doctrinal office, blasted Dan Brown's best-selling book as full of anti-Christian lies and demanded that Catholics stay away from the film.

But on Thursday, Austin Ivereigh saidhis group, which represents monks, nuns, theologians and members of the Opus Dei group, would take a different approach.

Ivereigh ispress secretary for theU.K.'s top Catholic prelate, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, but Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, is not a signatory to the group.

"We are not calling for boycotts or protests. Our view is that it is up to people to decide if they want to see the film," Ivereigh told Reuters.

Disclaimer encouraged

The filmmakers should make it clear the plot is fiction, not fact, he said, but the group thinks both the book and the movie present an opportunity to engage Britons in a discussion of Christian history and faith.

"The danger is that by appearing threatened we give the book and the film the theological credence it doesn't have," Ivereigh said.

Among the plot points from Brown's book that have been discounted by the church are the possibility that Jesus had a child by Mary Magdalene, that she fled to France and that Christ's bloodline survives to this day.

So far Sony's Columbia Pictures has refused to issue a disclaimer on the film, to be releasedin commercial cinemas May 18.

The British group's stance reflects a division among Christian communities worldwide over how to greet the film.

A South Korean group has called for an outright ban. The Anglican church in Sydney, Australia, has produced a short commercial to air in cinemas before the film, that tells what it's calling, the "truth about Jesus."

Support material being offered by religious groups

But many churches regard it as a chance to talk about Christianity. The liberal United Church of Canada released a video in March in its Faith and Popular Culture series in which a minister chats about the radical interpretation of Christian history Brown presents in the book.

A Christian evangelical company in the U.S. has released a 10-DVD version of the New Testament as a "Christian response" to The Da Vinci Code and is urging churches to buy the series as a start for discussions in their congregations.

The WatchWord Bible video series is being sold by about 140,000 Christian churches and by groups such as the Promise Keepers, a U.S. Christian evangelical group for men.

In his novel, Brown depicts the conservative Catholic group Opus Dei as a ruthless Machiavellian organization whose members practise murder and self-mutilation. The group has lodged an official protest and recommended boycotting the film.

But Ivereigh, who is not a member of Opus Dei, said Brown's depiction of the group, which isclosely associated with Pope John Paul II, does not appear to have hurt it.

"Opus Dei has 200 e-mails a day from people wanting to join. There is no such thing as bad publicity," he said.

The film, starring Tom Hanks, has its first showing at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17.