“It’s big business and a big swindle”: that’s the comment of Fernando Sebastián Aguilar, Archbishop of Pamplona (Spain) on the Da Vinci Code (book and film). In the archbishop’s view, it’s “an economic swindle in which the image of Jesus Christ is deformed”. Monsignor Sebastián, who is one of the Spanish bishops who has spoken publicly of the Da Vinci Code, said: “we Christians ought not to be fearful of the book because it says nothing serious that can possibly place in doubt the scientifically established historical foundations of Christianity” and hence “there’s no reason to become nervous, or even to experience at least curiosity about it”. In his view, “it’s not worth taking seriously”, given that “its strength lies in propaganda, in the prurience it arouses and in the weakness of many consciences”. “Whoever wants to get to know something about Jesus is better advised to read the Gospels”, he suggests. The archbishop does not call for the film to be boycotted, but he warns: “Anyone who wants to read the book or see the film should do so, though without credulity and without letting himself be seduced in a childish manner by their superficial appeal”. He calls for “a certain critical detachment” to “this deplorable book that arouses the curiosity of many and that offers an excellent occasion to explain to Christians and non-Christians alike the real historical origins of Christianity, the documentary sources for our knowledge of Jesus, of his life and his gospel, and to explain what the early years in the life of the Church were like and how the Christian faith expanded through the existing world at that time”.
