Catholic League: Vaticans Position on 'Angels and Demons'

Bill Donohue: On the first page of the booklet I wrote on this subject, I commented on Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons. ‘The book,’ I said, ‘if read purely for entertainment purposes, has its merits.’ But in the Introduction, I made clear my motive: ‘This booklet was written to debunk the mythology, lies and smears of Dan Brown’s book, Angels & Demons, and the movie upon which it is based.’ The Vatican’s position essentially dovetails with this assessment, albeit in a more restrained fashion.

NEW YORK (Catholic League) - Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the Vatican’s position on “Angels & Demons”:

“The Vatican has apparently decided on a three track strategy to deal with ‘Angels & Demons’: ban Ron Howard from filming on its grounds; low ball any negative comments before the movie debuts; and slam it for its stereotypical portrayals while conceding its cinematic value.

“Howard was denied access to the Vatican because of his previous exploitation of the Catholic Church in ‘The Da Vinci Code.’ The Vatican also decided that reticence was the best way to handle ‘Angels & Demons’; it did not want Howard to use any negative comments it might make to boost sales. Now L’Osservatore Romano has weighed in saying that although the movie is entertaining, it is also filled with historical inaccuracies and ‘stereotyped characters.’

“On the first page of the booklet I wrote on this subject, I commented on Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons. ‘The book,’ I said, ‘if read purely for entertainment purposes, has its merits.’ But in the Introduction, I made clear my motive: ‘This booklet was written to debunk the mythology, lies and smears of Dan Brown’s book, Angels & Demons, and the movie upon which it is based.’ The Vatican’s position essentially dovetails with this assessment, albeit in a more restrained fashion.

“The cautious approach taken by L’Osservatore Romano is not surprising. The newspaper, edited by a layman, Professor Giovanni Maria Vian, is known as the semi-official Vatican daily. The editor boasts of his autonomy in running stories, especially in writing editorials (the movie review was the subject of two editorials), and in hiring Jews, Muslims and non-believers to work for him. Not exactly Catholic command central.

“The Catholic League’s goal all along has been to issue a big FYI about this movie. Enjoy it for the fun of it, but don’t be seduced by Brown-Howard into thinking it is based on historical facts.”

Well I'm done with Jollywood. They have trashed all that is decent and good in this world for the last time for me. I was taken to Forgetting Sarah Marshall expecting a chck flick and a PG-13 movie -- WHOA!!! I won't even see this movie, and I know longer care to even see Tom Hanks or Ron Howard re-runs (other than Mayberry!) Jollywood is just Satan's tool. There is very little that is honorable or worth paying $.25 at the movies to see anymore. The last good movie I saw was Becoming Jane (about Jane Austin).

Junebug | 5/14/2009

Ok speaking to Catholics on this I'm a 15 year old kid and i understand that this is fiction and purely for entertainment. Why can't everyone just look at this as a fairy tale and not try to blow it out of proportion like "Hollywood" wants? The movie isn't really doing anything to the Catholic faith at all. All the author did was make a FICTIONAL story for entertainment purposes. He doesn't believe what he says is true at all. Why should everyone think he's trying to attack the Catholic Church. All of us Catholics should be intelligent enough to know that its all FICTIONAL and it shouldn't really phase us like everyone is making it seem like. "Defend"? what? This is a pretty ridiculous topic.

Jake D. | 5/12/2009

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