Papal preacher blasts Da Vinci Code, Judas gospel
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-04-17 15:28 The central tenet of the book is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had
children. Christians are taught that Jesus never married, was crucified and rose
from the dead.
Cantalamessa then turned his ire to the film version of "The Da Vinci Code"
starring Tom Hanks, which is due to be released next month.
"No one will be able to stop this wave of speculation, which will see a sharp
increase with the imminent release of a certain film," he said.
Cantalamessa several times dismissed "The Gospel of Judas", which claims that
it was Christ himself who asked Judas to betray him. The Gospel of Judas
received wide attention recently in media stories about the discovery of a
1,700-year-old copy.
The so-called Gospel of Judas was already declared a heresy by the early
Church about two centuries after Christ died.
The Passion of the Lord
service was the first of two events in which the 78-year-old German Pope,
approaching the first Easter of his reign, was commemorating the crucifixion of
death of Christ on Good Friday.
His predecessor John Paul was in his dying days for all of last year¡¯s Easter
season and was only able to make brief appearances in the week between Palm
Sunday and Easter Sunday.
John Paul died on April 2, a week after Easter.
On Friday night the Pope was leading a Via Crucis (Way of the Cross)
procession around the ancient ruins of Rome¡¯s Colosseum.
He says an Easter Eve mass on Saturday night and on Sunday will deliver an
"Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing and
message.
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