Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Nun Protests on 'Da Vinci Code' Set

(from Yahoo! News) - A Roman Catholic nun staged a protest outside an English cathedral where "The Da Vinci Code" is being made into a movie. Sister Mary Michael, 61, prayed for 12 hours on Monday outside Lincoln Cathedral in the east of England where scenes from the forthcoming Tom Hanks blockbuster, directed by Ron Howard, are being shot this week. "It matters to me what God thinks, not what the film crew think," said Michael.

"When I face Almighty God, at my final judgment, as we all will, I can say, I did try my best, I did try my best to protest."

Michael said a controversial claim in "The Da Vinci Code" -- that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children by her -- was based on a gnostic heresy, "an old error, derived from the mystery faiths of the east". Michael also accused the Anglican cathedral, which is standing in for Westminster Cathedral in London, of committing the sin of simony -- conducting financial transactions involving spiritual goods. The dean of Lincoln Cathedral, while slamming the book as "a load of old tosh", has reportedly let in the cameras after a donation of 100,000 pounds ($181,000) from the producers.

See my previous post: Cracking The Da Vinci Code