|
CBCP Issues Guide on "Da Vinci Code"
12 May 2006— With the imminent screening of the movie adaptation of best-seller "Da Vinci Code," the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is attempting to educate the cinema-goers before the film is released later this month.
In a Pastoral letter released Friday, CBCP President Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo called on the faithful to "serenely affirm the fundamental truths or our faith."
Reiterating the book is a work of fiction, the concern of the bishops is that "fiction shapes the imagination, stirs emotions that his fiction is historical fact."
The said book, by US author Dan Brown, has been a publishing sensation around the world making it to the best-seller lists.
Brown makes bold claims about the Church suppressing the truth behind the origin of Christianity.
Lagdameo said the novel gives erroneous impressions of many things, among them some fundamental truths of the Christian faith.
"Errors"
The CBCP then has released guidelines on how to respond to the claims made by Brown in the novel.
The guide will tell "how accurate and reliable is Dan Brown's research" and will also expose his "errors." It will be distributed in different parishes, dioceses, schools and other groups.
"The danger lies in the blending of fiction and purported facts," according to the CBCP guide on the said book entitled "Handling questions people may ask about the Da Vinci Code."
"Brown sounds so convincing that many of his readers simply believe his assertions, due to insufficient knowledge of the Christian faith and a solid background in history and other fields," it added.
It also said that the word to keep in mind, when discussing the factuality of the book, is "evidence."
Lagdameo also urged the faithful to carefully "discern" the truth of the Gospel.
"Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man," he said. "The full truth about Jesus is not attained by mere historical reconstruction or ingenious human speculation."
The witness of the believers of Christ, dating from the apostles to the saints and martyrs of our time, constitutes the most reliable 'evidence" in history of the truth about Jesus," he added. "The Church does not manipulate revealed truth. It serves the truth,"
|
