Archbishop calls for reaction against ‘shameless wave’ of hatred toward Jesus and the Church Buenos Aires, Apr. 12, 2006 (CNA) - Archbishop Hector Aguer of La Plata, Argentina, has exhorted Catholics to avoid laziness and to respond with “noble firmness” to the “dominant and shameless” wave of hatred against Jesus Christ and the Church which he says has spread across the world. During Palm Sunday Mass at the archdiocesan cathedral, Archbishop Aguer noted that a wave of hatred against Jesus Christ has been unleashed upon the world.  “We not talking about isolated incidents,” he said, but rather a series of simultaneous events that bear the “markings of a conspiracy.” The archbishop mentioned several examples of attacks on Christianity, such as a recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine in which a famous rapper appears wearing a crown of thorns; a short movie on Christmas in which Jesus and Santa Claus get into a fist fight; obscene cartoons about Jesus in a French newspaper, and the logo of a popular Swedish brand of jeans depicting a skull with an inverted cross. “More than 200,000 pairs of the jeans have been sold and the designer has said his intention was to speak out against Christianity,” the archbishop stated. Other examples sited by Archbishop Aguer included the “infamous fables of ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ which will gain new strength with the upcoming release of the film,” and the so-called Gospel of Judas, a Gnostic writing that was refuted by St. Iraneus in the year 180.  “It has been presented as something new by National Geographic Magazine, thus taking advantage of the occasion of Holy Week. It also promises to be a successful economic move.” “To all this one can add the numerous profanations of the Sacred Scriptures, the blasphemies against the Most Holy Virgin and the growing, ubiquitous pressure to remove crosses and other Christian symbols from public places,” the archbishop added. He noted the widespread condemnation and rejection of recently published cartoons depicting Mohammed, as well as the rapid activation of democratic mechanisms condemning discrimination and infringement upon religious freedom whenever there is the slightest attack against the Jewish community.  And yet, he continued, “the apathy, the leniency, the suspicious silence in response to attacks on the Christian faith stands out.  It seems that Christianity, and specifically Catholicism, can be attacked with impunity,” Archbishop Aguer said. He said the lack of response by Christians to the insults and attacks upon the Lord are even more surprising and are a “sad sign of how the faith has been weakened” in cultures that once were proud of their link to the Church of Christ.  Lastly, Archbishop Aguer exhorted Christians to “offer serene and cordial witness to the truth, which does not exclude when necessary a noble firmness in demanding that the sacred treasure of catholicity be respected in accord with decency, justice and the law.”

AN ORTHODOX PERSPECTIVE ON THE DA VINCI CODE by Archpriest Nicholas As Orthodox Christians, why would we bother worrying about, or even reviewing, a novel? In the 21st century, we are living in the post-Christian era. This does not mean that Society now considers Christianity redundant and outmoded, supplanted by modern philosophy and science, and even by new theology – end of story. This may well be the case, but it is not sufficient; Christianity must now be attacked and ‘proved’ wrong. How? There is only one effective way of doing this: by removing God from Christianity. During the first 300 years of its existence, Christians were persecuted, often with extreme brutality, but these persecutions were only battles; the war had not yet begun, in the worldly sense. The first major offensive against Christianity was the Arian heresy. The Da Vinci Code is history revisited. In the guise of a novel, it is a serious attempt at reintroducing Arianism, ‘proving’ that Christ was not, and therefore is not, God. Using the format of a novel is indeed a brilliant tactic. It allows history to be rewritten, and facts to be mutilated and reinvented with impunity. Concerning its claim to factual accuracy see Figure 1 – the first page of the novel. And so it’s a novel when it suits the cause, and at the same time it’s a factual, historical exposé that surfaces insidiously to enlighten deluded Christians, and strengthen the rest in the knowledge that Christ is not God – this is its primary goal. Everything else is secondary. This was recognized by the very first Christians – if Christ is not God then Christianity is meaningless and ultimately is of no practical value to mankind: But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised: and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain. [1Cor 15:13-14] To achieve its goal, the novel goes to extraordinary lengths to reverse historical and theological facts, and judging by its popularity, it has been remarkably successful. This says a lot about societies’ gullibility – with the right psychological techniques and social engineering, people can be manipulated to believe in just about anything without the need for brute force. Why? Because in the main, we are intellectually lazy: why strain the brain when it can be fed by others with initiative. But success in being an obstacle to Christianity has its own price: And whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it were better for him if a great millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. [Mark 9:42] CONCLUSION: Not one revelation or exposé throughout the entire novel stands up to serious scrutiny. What purports to be historical or religious fact is either simply wrong, or so ludicrous that it insults the reader’s intelligence. It is impossible to conclude that the false claims are merely the result of sloppy scholarship. The real agenda of the novel, without any pretence otherwise, is to debunk Christianity; to prove that it is a fraud. And the only way to do this is to mutilate the truth – millions of readers would not have the slightest idea that they have been deceived. The real tragedy is that, not only that most wouldn’t care, but being the products of spiritually and morally bankrupt 21st Century society, they are eager to digest lies, believing that by reading contentious material they have been intellectually enlightened.

The Greatest Hoax Ever Sold by The Great Pop Schlockmeister "Angels & Demons" and "The Da Vinci Code" are a virulent attack on our True God Jesus Christ, Christianity, and the Catholic Church imbedded in a novel. It is so deceptive that good Catholics will proclaim that the two books are very "good" and "smart"; even though they, personally, do not hold to any of their allegations. This ONLY serves to highlight the danger and true evil of these books. They seem to be so convincing, honest and true that they could "deceive even the elect" (Matthew 24, 24) People will claim that they are just works of fiction. That is true to a certain extent but they are not JUST works of fiction. They are works of theology [heresy actually], especially "The Da Vinci Code", disguised as works of fiction. Both books are an unrelenting attack on Chrsitianity. "Brown purports to be a "real" historian and claims that his novel is based upon "proven" facts. He admits that he is trying to create a new theology. On ABC's "20/20," Brown spoke of "conversion to a new Christianity," and he saw himself as on a mission to bring his religious message to America." It is due to the loss of the sense of the Sacred and the honor due to our Divine Lord that has allowed the allegations in these books to go virtually unchallenged. We have lost the sense of what it is to blaspheme God and the Truth He revealed. "And he opened his mouth unto blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints..." (Apoc. 13 6-7) "Amen I say to you, that all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and the blasphemies wherewith they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, shall never have forgiveness, but shall be guilty of an everlasting sin." (Mark 3, 28-29)