Bishop says film ban will be counter-productive

Dubai: The head of the Catholic church in the Arabian Peninsula has urged Christians to exercise restraint over controversial movie The Da Vinci Code which premieres in the UAE later this month.

Although the Vatican has stepped up its offensive against the Dh250m blockbuster and the Council of Churches in Jordan has called for a ban, Bishop Paul Hinder told Gulf News Christians had to make their own judgment about whether to see the movie.

"We are not going to oppose the movie because it would be counter-productive. We would rather count on the intelligence of the people to realise that what they see on screen isn't true," he said.

The movie stars Tom Hanks and is based on Dan Brown's best-selling novel. The storyline suggests that Jesus married follower Mary Magdalene and they had a child, starting a bloodline that still exists, something the Vatican vehemently denies.

"I have read the novel and I agree that the theories postulated in the book are objectionable. The book presents a distorted view of Christianity and any movie based on it is bound to hurt the sentiments of not only Christians but Muslims as well. I hope the movie doesn't do well in the UAE," Bishop Hinder added.

Dubai-based Pastor Pat Worsley agreed it "would not be appropriate" to resist the movie.

"We neither oppose nor endorse its showing. We don't want to ride on the commercialisation and marketing hype."

While Dan Brown's novel is fictional there has been little attempt by the author to present the story as a figment of imagination. As well as doubts from Catholic and Protestant churches, some Islamic scholars are also denouncing the book and movie, although not so strongly.

"The content of the movie contradicts the truth about Jesus as revealed in the Quran," said Ahmad Al Qubaisi, a senior Islamic scholar at the department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Works in Dubai.

"You can watch the movie, but don't believe in it because that would be tantamount to kafara (apostasy). It is a piece of fiction and one should watch it that way."

The movie was due to be released on May 17, but has been postponed until May 31 after a delay in it receiving the green light from UAE censors.

Officials have stated only one small scene has been cut in the film depicting an albino assassin stripping naked in church to pray. The film's distributors have reportedly doubled the number of copies of the movie being brought to UAE cinemas in expectation of the massive demand when it opens.