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Title: Top Cardinal Blasts 'Da Vinci Code' as 'Cheap Lies'
Source:
Netscape News
URL Source: http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news ... 2&dt=20050315130200&w=RTR&covi
Published: Mar 15, 2005
Author: Reuters
Post Date: 2005-03-15 17:59:13 by Mr Nuke Buzzcut
Keywords: Cardinal, Blasts, Cheap
Views: 8902
Comments: 568
Top Cardinal Blasts 'Da Vinci Code' as 'Cheap Lies' ROME (Reuters) - A top Catholic cardinal has blasted "The Da Vinci Code" as a "gross and absurd" distortion of history and said Catholic bookstores should take the bestseller off their shelves because it is full of "cheap lies." Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in an interview with the Milan newspaper Il Giornale, became the highest ranking Italian Churchman to speak out against the book, an international blockbuster that has sold millions of copies. "(It) aims to discredit the Church and its history through gross and absurd manipulations," Bertone, the archbishop of the northern Italian city of Genoa and a close friend of Pope John Paul told the paper in its Monday edition. "This seems like a throwback to the old anti-clerical pamphlets of the 1800s," he said. The central claim of the book, written by American Dan Brown, is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children. The Bible says Jesus never married, was crucified and rose from the dead. Bertone's comments were significant because until the Pope named him archbishop of Genoa in 2003 he was for years the number two man at the Vatican's most powerful department - the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "You can find that book everywhere and the risk is that many people who read it believe that those fairy tales are real," he said. "I think I have the responsibility to clear things up to unmask the cheap lies contained in books like that." HOLY GRAIL A central storyline of the book is that the Holy Grail is not the cup which Christ is said to have used at the Last Supper but really the bloodline descended from Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Bertone calls this idea "a perversion." Bertone is so incensed about the novel that he will be the key speaker at a roundtable in Genoa Wednesday night attempting to dismantle the book, which also accuses the Church of covering up the female role in Christianity. "I will try to clear things up and help form consciences," the cardinal said. "I think that when faced with affirmations that are so shameful and unfounded, readers who have even a minimum of basic (Christian) formation should react," he said. He said it was "sad" that even Catholic bookstores were selling The Da Vinci Code "for purely economic reasons." One bookstore selling "The Da Vinci Code" is the one in the Gemelli Hospital, a Catholic institution where the Pope spent a total of 28 days in two stints in February and March. In the interview, Bertone firmly rejected the book's claim that the feminine role in Christianity had been suppressed. "This is one of the most vulgar of inventions. The feminine element is present in all the Gospels," Bertone said. Bertone also strongly defended Opus Dei, the conservative Church organization that the book depicts as a ruthless, Machiavellian group that resorts even to murder in its attempt to keep the Church's secrets hidden. The novel is going to reach an even wider audience next year with the release of a film based on the book staring Tom Hanks. © Copyright Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Reuters Ltd. 03/15/2005 13:02 RTR
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#446. To: Don (#439)
Not sure Mr. Sharp Guy ... from the Un of New Hampshire ... but links don't link ... sorry.
Ok, just start up the crap again. Go ahead. Make my day.
Oh Gee. Now I am blushing.
It took every ounce of restraint on my part to resist responding to this foot- in-mouth remark. Thank you. Actually noone222, I was just teasing Sam - as I always do.
Still good at avoiding the pointed questions, aren't ya?
Well, if you would just stop writing it in Disappearing Ink...... Sheesh! Do I have to remind you of EVERYTHING??? ;0)
Hey, I'm just the Adversary. "HE" got the Omni stuff. I can only be one place at at time and handle so many tasks at once. You know how hard it is to get truly good demonic minions these days?
Just "pointed" heads ... pin-head !
I'm repentant ... really I am ... I know the end is nigh ... or neigh.
Now don't make me sic Mr. Thread Pirate on you! ARRRRRGH!
Actually, I'm a breast man myself. I haven't been the same since my mother breast-fed me. She ruined my life.
You're really TLBShow, aren't you?
I can safely say that is way more information than I ever needed to know about you, Don.
This thread needs a good highjacking.
But that is my choice, and one I will never regret. But trying to explain my faith to those without faith is not worth the effort and hardly worth the fight. What you see as Fable, I see as Firm Ground. What you see as Fact, I see as the ever changing will of man. And so forth and so on.
Then can I count on no more questions?
And, no more dumb statements from you on Christianity?
Probably not. This thread is undergoing a form of "evolution."
Ok, then. What will be will be.
If you'll shut up about "scientists killing the world"...
And I see you're still a nosy little turd.
then I shall summon the Thread Pirates....
Well, that would be a little hard. That stuff is in the daily news.
One of my fave un-shopped gifs.
Ok, that kid will grow up a wise man.
Baby we could talk all night, but that ain't gettin us nowhere. Write me back when you get that Costa Rican IP address. Maybe my opinion of you will improve. It's got nowhere to go but up.
Then, I'm sorry, all bets are off. :)
then I shall summon the Thread Pirates.... Now why would you want to do that may I ask?
Folks, it is not safe to go back into the water.
No harm. No foul. Whenever the Lamb wants to grill, he has to get starter fluid from Mary. I carry my own butane and matches.
You got nothin to fear, right? Your guy walked on it, IIRC. Or if the storms get frenzied...Peace, be still!
Now, see, beef I can handle rare, but "blood of the Lamb?" No thanks. well done. Besides, if you get washed in it, you can't get it outta yer clothes.
If by that (Thread Pirates) you were reffering to thread hijackers: On behalf of Dakmar, Crack Monkey and myself, we're collectively miffed that our pirating skills haven't been given proper credit here. OTOH, if you intended to type "Butt Pirates" Trace.. See above.
Shall we talk stain removal? .....................................I really gotta go.
like I care. Guys like you are dime a dozen.
Maybe my opinion of you will improve. You'll die of old age before he forms an opinion of his own !
You have the main idea.
Your shark is gonna get made into sharkfin soup. Hope it isn't a pet.
Write me back when you can say it 'en Espanol' and you're yukking it up in tropical climes, watching the coming destruction of the republic from the safety of a beach chair. Rubber, meet road. Otherwise, you're the guy in the "buy one, get 11 free" bin.
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#447. To: Samuel Gray, 2Trievers (#444)
#448. To: 2Trievers (#446)
#449. To: noone222, Samuel Gray (#435)
Samuel Gray (said): I'm the freakin anti-Christ
#450. To: Flintlock (#445)
#451. To: Samuel Gray (#432)
Besides, I'm thin on top and that 666 birthmark thing would be a bit overt and tend to scare the Fundies.
#452. To: CAPPSMADNESS (#451)
#453. To: Samuel Gray (#450)
Still good at avoiding the pointed questions, aren't ya?
#454. To: Don (#447)
#455. To: Samuel Gray (#434)
agree, I was referring to the weird practice of bozoing folks that "talk dirty".
#456. To: 2Trievers (#454)
#457. To: noone222 (#453)
#458. To: Don (#456)
#459. To: CAPPSMADNESS (#455)
#460. To: 2Trievers (#444)
allowing yourself to be trapped by the narrow mythology set forth in one, say, pseudo holy book's version of life, of flesh, of truth.
#461. To: Samuel Gray (#458)
#462. To: All (#461)
#463. To: Don (#461)
Then can I count on no more questions?
#464. To: Samuel Gray (#463)
#465. To: Don (#462)
And, no more dumb statements from you on Christianity?
#466. To: Samuel Gray (#450)
Still good at avoiding the pointed questions, aren't ya?
#467. To: Samuel Gray, justlurking, Thread Pirate (#459)
This thread needs a good highjacking.
#468. To: Samuel Gray (#465)
#469. To: Don (#456)
#470. To: 2Trievers (#469)
#471. To: Flintlock (#466)
#472. To: Don (#468)
Well, that would be a little hard. That stuff is in the daily news.
#473. To: CAPPSMADNESS (#467)
This thread needs a good highjacking.
#474. To: Samuel Gray, All (#472)
#475. To: CAPPSMADNESS (#460)
#476. To: Don (#474)
Folks, it is not safe to go back into the water.
#477. To: 2Trievers (#475)
Whenever the Lamb wants to grill,
#478. To: CAPPSMADNESS, Dakmar, Crack Monkey, Tracie21230 (#467)
#479. To: Samuel Gray (#477)
#480. To: Don (#474)
Folks, it is not safe to go back into the water.
#481. To: Samuel Gray (#471)
Maybe my opinion of you will improve.
#482. To: Flintlock (#481)
Samuel Gray
#483. To: Samuel Gray (#476)
#484. To: 2Trievers (#480)
#485. To: Flintlock (#481)
Guys like you are dime a dozen.
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