Catholic group protests ‘Da Vinci Code’
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published May 24, 2006

Protesters object to the showing of “The Da Vinci Code” Friday evening at Regal Cinema at Crocker Park. (Photo by Kevin Kelley)

A dozen protesters prayed and picketed outside Regal Cinema’s Crocker Park Stadium 16 this weekend as the controversial film “The Da Vinci Code” premiered on screens there.

The protesters, supporters of a conservative Catholic group called the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP), said they considered the movie blasphemous.

The movie, based on a book by Dan Brown, suggests that Jesus married and had a child but the Vatican has conducted a 2,000-year long cover-up to suppress this information.

Pat Gennarelli, a North Olmsted resident who organized the Crocker Park demonstration, said protesters wanted to show a resistance against those who he believes are trying to defame the church.

“Right now it’s perfect timing for people who are at a loss of faith, in a sense, to weaken it even further,” he said.

He also criticized “Da Vinci” author Dan Brown, who Gennarelli said has flip-flopped in response to criticism over the book.

“He doesn’t even know whether it’s the truth or not,” Gennarelli said. “First of all, he says it is the truth. Then once he’s backed in the corner, he says it’s just fiction.”

Gennarelli, who attends Immaculate Conception Church in Cleveland, said he would like to see Catholics speak out more against the film.

“I would think that most of the people that are going to church should be out here and making more of an impact on this,” he said.

But doesn’t telling people not to do something, such as see a certain movie, just make them want to see it even more?

Gennarelli doesn’t think so. He points to the fact that TFP and its America Needs Fatima campaign have successfully shut down numerous art shows and plays which they viewed as blasphemous due to protests.

Protesters Jan Spisak of Avon and Lois Ganobsik of Elyria.

Some will decide not to see the movie based on his group’s peaceful protest, he added.

Protesters Jan Spisak of Avon and Lois Ganobsik of Elyria told West Life they would like to see priests speak out against the film from their pulpits.

The two women, who also attend Immaculate Conception, held a sign saying “The Da Vinci Code’ Ridicules Christ and His Church. Stop Blasphemy.”

Spisak said she was particularly worried about the impact the film could have on young people, especially young Christians.

“Any child can go and see it,” she said. “It should have been an R-rated movie.”

Ganobsik said she was concerned teens who see the movie might doubt their faith.

Spisak said the group was praying for world peace and American soldiers in Iraq.

“They’ll see this movie (playing here) and wonder what’s happening back in this country,” she said.

According to the group’s Web site, www.tfp.org, the American TFP was formed in 1973 “to resist, in the realm of ideas, the liberal, socialist and communist trends of the times and proudly affirm the positive values of tradition, family and property.”

The group also believes that the various crises it sees threatening American society and the Church cannot be seen as separate but originate from a single cause.

TFP’s Robert Ritchie said in a statement on the group’s Web site that 1,000 protests across America had been planned this past weekend against the film.

“Wrapped in Gnostic heresy, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ is a broadside attack against the Divinity of Christ, the papacy, and the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church,” Ritchie said. “Together with the so-called gospel of Judas, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ is outright blasphemy.”

According to Exhibitor Relations, “The Da Vinci Code” was the top box office film across the U.S. and Canada this weekend, earning $77 million in ticket sales. Worldwide, the film earned $224 million, according to Sony Pictures. This amount was second only to “Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” which earned $253 million last year.

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