Swords and Scallops

A SENIOR Catholic bishop has declared the triumph of Christianity over “The Da Vinci Code,” the Hollywood adaptation of the best-selling novel that assaults Christian belief, which began showing in the country more than two weeks ago.

“Christianity is exactly the same. The Church is still as it was before,” said Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

“After so much international hype and so much local fuss, the ‘Da Vinci Code’ film is now seen as a non-issue. There was so much debate, worry and reservation over nothing,” he said Sunday.

Jesus Christ, whose virginity and divinity were questioned in the book by Dan Brown, is still the same “today, yesterday and forever,” despite the attacks from both the novel and the film, Cruz said.

“Fiction about Christ and the Church comes and goes but their truth remains,” he said. “The Catholic Church enjoys the certitude to last till the end of time.”