25 May 2006

American Samoan bishop comments on Da Vinci Code movie

5:00 pm on 25 May 2006

The leader of the Catholic Church in American Samoa, Bishop John Quinn Weitzel, is confident that Christians in the territory will take the movie the Da Vinci Code for what it is, a film filled with historical and doctrinal errors.

Bishop Quinn has responded to a letter from the American Society for the Defence of Tradition, Family and Property urging support of prayer vigils and statements exposing the film as blasphemy.

Bishop Quinn informed the President of the Society, Raymond Drake, that his letter has been distributed to priests and parishes in the local diocese.

He says American Samoa is a Christian territory and its people will be offended by the Anti Christian and blasphemous content of the film.

The bishop says it is quite probable that the film will be shown in the territory's only movie theatre.

The Da Vinci Code movie has been banned in Samoa and the Solomon Islands government says it plans to ban it as well.