Campaigner burns petition after Church letter

A petition with 4,071 signatures, calling on the authorities to ban the release in Malta of The Da Vinci Code on big screen, was destroyed in a bonfire last night after the Church frowned on Vince Marshall's plans to hold what he called a protest/pilgrimage, on May 20.

In a letter it sent him on Tuesday, the Curia expressed its disapproval with regard to the planned pilgrimage that would have been led by a statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

The letter, signed by the Curia's pastoral secretary, Fr Charles Cordina, was short and to the point: "While the Church regrets the harm that could result from The Da Vinci Code book and film, the Church authorities disapprove of any pilgrimages. Therefore, it does not even permit religious statues to be used in such pilgrimages".

When questioned about this decision, a Curia spokesman said the Church had never been involved in the organisation of the pilgrimage and at no point did it condone it.

"The letter the Curia sent to Mr Marshall was merely a confirmation in writing of the Church's stand," the spokesman added.

"The Diocesan Synod brought to light the need to build on education and formation. This is the path the Church is choosing to follow. So, in the light of The Da Vinci Code novel and its film version, the Church felt it would focus on information and formation, rather than protests or pilgrimages. The Church wishes Catholics to be strengthened in their faith" he said.

In the light of this letter and the Church's stand on the matter, a distraught Mr Marshall felt it would be unwise to forge ahead with the pilgrimage without the Curia's blessing and yesterday he went to the police station to cancel the application for the permit, which would have allowed him to realise his plans.

"The application had reached the final stages and I could have still gone ahead with the protest. I even have my own statue of Our Lady, which was blessed by the Pope, but I cannot be holding a pilgrimage to protest against the release of The Da Vinci Code and at the same time protest against the Curia's decision. It cannot work that way," he said when contacted.

A distressed Mr Marshall said he will "obey" the Curia, even if under protest, and last night he torched the petition in a bonfire to protect the signatories' identity, since all their personal details and identity card numbers were listed.

The Church has been very careful to steer clear of any controversy on this issue and rather than telling the faithful not to watch it or saying the film should be banned, it has urged a "sensible" approach. It also plans to issue an information manual in mid-May to answer questions raised by the novel.

News of Mr Marshall's campaign sparked vociferous protests, mostly from those who felt it was their democratic right to choose whether they watched the film or not, and numerous letters were sent to The Times.

"I cannot understand why the Curia left it so long to tell me all this when I had informed it of my plans way back on March 12. I'm very hurt by its decision and even though I am choosing to obey all the way, I'm doing so under protest," Mr Marshall said.

"I'm very angry that a peaceful protest/pilgrimage had to be stopped. I'm also worried about the impact this book has on people. Recently, I devoted a lot of energy persuading four young people not to abandon their faith because they were so confused after they read the book."

Mr Marshall was dumbstruck at the Church's reaction, especially since he has been working hard and going out of pocket to defend his religion for the past months.

"I spend all this time working tirelessly, I receive threats, and now the devil comes and ruins it all. I am convinced the devil used the Curia to serve his means," he wrote on his website.

"When I face almighty God at my final judgement, as we all will, I can say I did try my best to protest."

A subdued Mr Marshall spent all night updating his website with a long list of condemnations from Catholics abroad, and informing his supporters that the pilgrimage, which was set to be held the day after the film's worldwide release on May 19, was cancelled.

The film's actual date for release in Malta is not yet confirmed, but KRS Film Distributors is hoping it can lay its hands on the prints on time.

KRS manager Alex Pace said his office was inundated by calls from people wanting to make sure the film was not going to be banned. "The feedback from people wanting to watch it has been tremendous," he said.

The Film and Stage Classifiers Board have yet to see the film to rate it and give it the green light.