Originally Posted by
Partridge
Heh, that's rich (rather like the Vatican). The Church has been pimping Jesus for cash since the Council of Nicea.
Actually, I read the Da Vinci Code yesterday - it's not very good, and has really shite ending. But *SPOLIER ALERT*
Despite what the Opus Dei letter says above, it doesn't actually portray Opus Dei in a bad light at all. As teh novel progresses you find out that Opus Dei is being used by 'The Teacher' for his own ends - the killer is an Opus Dei member but he is acting on orders from The Teacher, not from Opus Dei. The Opus Dei bishop involved has no idea the murders are taking place and moves to stop them when he does find out. The Bishop's over-roding concern is for his organisation's continued ties to the Vatican which are under threat from the new 'liberal Pope'. Opus Dei comes out of the novel appearing less of a power hungry rightwing cult and more of a scared but devout child fearing for its very existence. Even the Vatican angle is left ambigious as to wether they were involved in an earlier murder, or whether it was just a fortuitous accident.
This leads me to wonder if any of these Catholic groups actually even read the novel!