Pittsburgh Catholics Organize Against The Da Vinci Code

Catholics residents in Pittsburgh will be holding prayer vigils in front of local theaters where The Da Vinci Code movie is scheduled to screen, starting this Friday.

Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) May 19, 2006 -- Catholics residents in Pittsburgh will be holding prayer vigils in front of local theaters where The Da Vinci Code movie is scheduled to screen, starting this Friday. The first protest will be held Thursday May 18th at 7:00 PM at the Loews Cineplex Theater on Waterfront Dr. in Homestead, Penn.

Norman Fulkerson of Spring Grove, Penn., is coordinating the prayer vigils locally as part of a nationwide effort of The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP), a Catholic organization, which is launching 1,000 protest/prayer vigils nationwide at theaters.

The film based on Dan Brown's book has ignited a firestorm of protests not only in the US but also around the world. A top Vatican official urged Catholics to protest.

Archbishop Angelo Amato, Secretary for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, suggested that Catholics around the world should launch organized protests against the The Da Vinci Code film just as some had done in 1988 to protest against Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ. (Reuters, April 28, 2006).

"The only fiction mantra doesn't convince anyone," said Mr. Fulkerson. "Dan Brown himself has admitted, in public interviews, that what he wrote is true." Fulkerson added: "The Da Vinci Code is blasphemous. For that reason -- rain or shine -- we will be protesting."

The American TFP, the organization spearheading 1,000 protests nationwide, has received letters of encouragement from church leaders across the country.

The list includes Cardinal Rigali of Philadelphia, Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, Missouri, Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, Illinois, Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb of Mobile, Alabama and Bishop Michael Saltarelli of Wilmington, Delaware.

Bishop John Nienstedt of New Ulm, Minnesota who actually read the novel said, "I offer you and the members of the American TFP my support in protesting the movie version of 'The Da Vinci Code.'"

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