by Nirmala Carvalho

A spokesperson for the Indian Bishops' Conference says the 'Da Vinci Code' and 'Tickle my funny bone' should not be screened. Behind these movies there is a desire to project a false image of Catholics.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Indian bishops are opposed to the distribution and screenings of two movies they say "hurt the sentiments of the Catholic community" projecting a false image of Christian believers to the world.

The first movie is Sony Pictures' Da Vinci Code, which depicts "Jesus, the founder of Christianity, as a married man with progeny". This is historically false and is designed to "insidiously attack the very roots of the Christian faith".

The Other movie is Tickle My funny bone, directed by Yogendra Konkar, which tells the story of a nun, described as a seductress who has an affair with a married man.

"Both movies [. . .] belittle what is at the heart of the Christian faith and are therefore blasphemous, and totally unacceptable to the Christian community," said Fr Babu Joseph, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. Christians, he explained, follow the teachings of Christ that are found in the four canonical Gospels. These, accepted since the dawn of Christianity, tell the true story of Christ and his mission. The movie ignores them and offers up an unfair version of reality.

The bishops join all those who oppose screening the movies, urging the Board of Film Censors of India to ban them because they are based on false premises and maliciously try to discredit the work of a religious minority.

Thanks to the prelates' backing, 500 Catholics and about a hundred nuns gathered Wednesday at the Canossa School in Mahim, Mumbai, to protest against the movie. During the rally they demanded "respect for the image of Christ and Indian women religious".

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