[list_indonesia] [ppiindia] rehat : The Da Vinci Code FAQ
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- Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 15:16:12 -0000
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---=20
The Da Vinci Code FAQ, or Will the Real Priory of Sion Please Stand=20
Up?
by Massimo Introvigne
=20
The Da Vinci Code is just a novel: why criticize it as if it were a=20
history book?
People who ask this question usually have not read the page of The=20
Da Vinci Code titled Fact, where the author, Dan Brown, asserts=20
that =ABall descriptions of [..]documents, and secret rituals in this=20
novel are accurate=BB and are based specifically on the fact that =ABin=20
1975 Paris' Biblioth=E8que Nationale discovered parchments, known as=20
Les Dossiers Secrets=BB which reveal the story of the Priory of Sion.
But do these =ABparchments, known as Les Dossiers Secrets=BB, really=20
exist?
At the Biblioth=E8que Nationale of Paris, certain documents called Les=20
Dossiers secrets de Henri Lobineau were not =ABdiscovered=BB, but rather=20
deposited there, in 1967, not in 1975. They are not parchments but=20
rather texts which speak about the way to interpret certain=20
parchments, which were neither then nor now at the National Library=20
of Paris, but were handed over by Pierre Plantard (1920-2000), along=20
with a manuscript he wrote, to an author of popular books about =ABthe=20
mysteries of France=BB by the name of G=E8rard de S=E9de (1921-2004), who=20
enhanced and published them as L'Or de Rennes ou la Vie insolite de=20
B=E9renger Sauni=E8re, cur=E9 de Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau (Julliard, Paris,=20
1967). As of today, the parchments (assuming they are in fact the=20
same) seem to be in possession of a controversial French author,=20
Jean-Luc Chaumeil, who claims to have received them from Plantard in=20
the 1970s, while Les Dossiers secrets can still be found at the=20
National Library in Paris.
Are the parchments and Dossier secrets authentic documents about the=20
ancient Priory of Sion?
There is no doubt that both Les Dossiers secrets and the parchments=20
are false documents, compiled in the year 1967, and all the people=20
involved in the falsification have admitted it, even after a few=20
years had passed. G=E8rard de S=E9de, who published them for the first=20
time in his book L'Or de Rennes, in a book published twenty years=20
later defined them as =ABapocryphal=BB, inspired by a =ABmarket=20
sensationalism=BB (G. de S=E8de, Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau. Le dossier, les=20
impostures, les phantasmes, les hypoth=E8ses, Robert Laffont, Paris,=20
1988, p. 107). He even claimed that in L'Or de Rennes he had=20
scattered enough clues to induce an attentive reader to the=20
conclusion that they were false documents (ibid., p. 108). According=20
to G=E8rard de S=E9de, the parchments were fabricated by Philippe de=20
Ch=E9risey (1925-1985), an impoverished French marquis who was a=20
professional TV actor and a devotee of enigmatic riddles. Actually,=20
de Ch=E9risey not only has repeatedly admitted to the fabrication of=20
these parchments, both
in letters and published texts (Circuit, The Author, Li=E8ge 1968;=20
L'Or de Rennes pour un Napol=E9on, The Author, Paris, 1975; L'=C9nigme=20
de Rennes, The Author, Paris 1978), but from as early as October 8,=20
1967 (as confirmed by a letter from his lawyer, B. Boccon-Gibod,=20
which the English researcher Paul Smith posted on his very detailed=20
Priory of Sion web site), he began working - albeit without=20
significant success up until his death - on getting paid, as it had=20
been agreed, by Pierre Plantard and G=E9rard de S=E9de. Even the third=20
of the Three Musketeers involved in the trick, Pierre Plantard,=20
admitted that the documents were false. In April of 1989, in the=20
first issue of the second series of his journal, Vaincre, Plantard=20
granted an interview and declared that Les Dossier secrets (which=20
are signed by a certain =ABPhilippe Toscan du Plantier=BB) are false=20
documents fabricated by Philippe de Ch=E9risey and by Philippe Toscan=20
du Plantier, the latter being, he claimed, a young disciple of his=20
who
operated under the influence of the LSD (No=EBl Pinot, =ABL'Interview=20
de Mr. Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair=BB, Vaincre [2a series], n. 1,=20
April 1989). It is possible that in reality there was no such person=20
as =ABPhilippe Toscan du Plantier=BB (in this case, the name may have=20
come from Daniel Toscan du Plantier, 1941-2003, a well-known figure=20
in the French movie industry, certainly known to de Ch=E8risey, and=20
who at that time worked for Gaumont), and the co-author of Les=20
Dossiers secrets with Ch=E9risey was Plantard himself. But the=20
essential point is that all three of the authors of the Dossier=20
secrets and other =ABdocuments=BB deposited during those years at the=20
National Library of Paris have admitted, publicly and in writing,=20
that they were false documents.
But what was so interesting about Les Dossier secrets, and why=20
according to Dan Brown do they support the thesis of The Da Vinci=20
Code?
According to Les Dossiers secrets de Henri Lobineau (which,=20
incidentally, is a name invented by the same Three Musketeers), the=20
legitimate heirs to the throne of France to this very day are still=20
the Merovingians, dethroned in 751 by the Carolingians. Furthermore,=20
contrary to public opinion, the Merovingians are not extinct but=20
have surviving descendants still alive, the last of which in 1967=20
was Pierre Plantard, who was therefore the only true contender to=20
the role of King of France (of course, under the improbable case of=20
a restoration of the French monarchy). In order to protect the=20
descendants of the Merovingians from the Carolingians and later from=20
other enemies, a secret society was formed, the Priory of Sion,=20
which - according to the false documents deposited at the National=20
Library of Paris in the 1960's - had as Grand Masters certain=20
alchemists and esoteric personalities such as Nicolas Flamel (well=20
known to Harry Potter readers, yet in reality an historical person=20
born in
1330 and deceased in 1418), Robert Fludd (1574-1637) and the=20
principal promoter of the Rosicrucian legend, Johann Valentin=20
Andreae (1586-1654), as well as scientists such as Leonardo da Vinci=20
(1452-1519) and Isaac Newton (1642-1727). The last of the Grand=20
Masters would have been the writers Charles Nodier (1780-1844) and=20
Victor Hugo (1802-1885), the musician Claude Debussy (1862-1918),=20
the poet and novelist Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) and Msgr. Francois=20
Ducaud-Bourget (1897-1984), a priest with ties to the schismatic=20
Msgr. Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991). Ducaud-Bourget (it was claimed)=20
had transferred the position to Plantard. It was also claimed that,=20
by pure chance, the truth concerning the Priory of Sion and the=20
famous parchments, hidden in the parish Church of a small French=20
village of less than one hundred inhabitants in the Aude region, at=20
the foot of the eastern Pyrenees mountains, Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau, were=20
supposedly discovered in 1897 by the local parish priest, Berenger=20
Sauni=E8re
(1852-1917), who, thanks to the knowledge of the secret, came into=20
contact with the esoteric and political milieu of the time and=20
became incredibly wealthy.
Wait a minute. In The Da Vinci Code, the main point is that the=20
Merovingians, protected by the Priory of Sion, are not only the=20
legitimate heirs to the throne of France but also the descendants of=20
the children born from the marriage between Jesus Christ and Mary=20
Magdalene. Do not Les Dossiers secrets and the other documents talk=20
about this?
No, in fact they do not mention anything about this. The part about=20
the relationship between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene originated=20
between 1969 and 1970, when an English actor, Henry Soskin, who was=20
mostly known for his role in the TV series The Avengers, became=20
interested in the Priory of Sion. He later became a director (going=20
by the name of Henry Lincoln) of documentaries about historical=20
mysteries and lost treasures, and entered into contact with the=20
threesome of Ch=E9risey - Plantard - de S=E8de. Lincoln decided to re-
write the story of L'Or de Rennes in a more suitable way, adapted=20
for a British audience, presenting it first in three documentaries=20
aired by the BBC between 1972 and 1979 and later in a book published=20
in 1982 with the help of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, The Holy=20
Blood and the Holy Grail (Jonathan Cape, London). Lincoln realized=20
that the identity of the person who was the legitimate heir to the=20
throne of France was not very interesting for his British
audience. At the same time, Plantard introduced him into the=20
microcosm of French esoteric organizations where he met Robert=20
Ambelain (1907-1997), a well known figure in this milieu. In 1970,=20
Ambelain had published J=E9sus ou Le mortel secret des templiers=20
(Robert Laffont, Paris), in which he affirmed that Jesus Christ had=20
a partner, while not being legally married, and identified=20
this =ABconcubine=BB as Salome. Lincoln meshed Ambelain's story about=20
the marriage of Jesus with that of the Merovingians suggested by=20
Plantard, and =ABrevealed=BB that the Merovingians protected by the=20
Priory of Sion were important, not because they were the heirs to=20
the throne of France, as much as because they were the descendants=20
of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. The latter suited Lincoln better=20
than Ambelain's Salome because both of her connection with the=20
parish church in Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau and of the Medieval legends=20
claiming that she escaped persecution and eventually settled and=20
died in Southern France
(sans =ABhusband=BB and children, however, which were never part of=20
these legends).
But did Lincoln know that the documents were false?
Yes: not only because in the French milieu of the esoteric=20
organizations into which he was introduced more or less everybody=20
knew they were false, but because Philippe de Ch=E9risey had told him=20
so, as can be seen by letters from Ch=E9risey himself (some reproduced=20
in Pierre Jarnac, Les Archives de Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau. Tome 2,=20
Belisane, Nice, 1988). Actually, the weak point of The Holy Blood=20
and the Holy Grail was precisely that too many people knew about the=20
dubious origin of the documents on which the story was grounded.=20
Thus, after having dealt directly with Ch=E9risey behind Plantard's=20
back, and then having turned down the marquis-actor too, in 1986=20
Lincoln and his associates launched a =ABsanitation=BB or =ABde-
plantardization=BB of the Priory of Sion with the book The Messianic=20
Legacy (Jonathan Cape, London). They presented as a great new=20
discovery that which in certain French circles everybody already=20
knew: Plantard was a con man (although perhaps not only a con man)=20
and many of the documents
were false. But some of the documents (the British insisted) were=20
true. Perhaps Plantard was not the last descendant of Jesus Christ=20
and the true Priory of Sion was not his organization. But, anyway,=20
there were Merovingian descendants of the marriage between Jesus=20
Christ and Mary Magdalene. And there was a =ABgenuine=BB Priory of Sion=20
which was behind many contemporary events: the infamous Italian=20
Masonic lodge P2, the scandals involving the Banco Ambrosiano, the=20
schism of Msgr. Lefebvre, the Italian mafia and many others, in a=20
tour de force which made the reader dizzy, and whose only common=20
denominator was a quasi-pathological hatred of the =ABVatican=BB and the=20
Roman Catholic Church.
And so does The Da Vinci Code come from The Holy Blood and the Holy=20
Grail?
So much so that two of the authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy=20
Grail, Baigent and Leigh (also offended because Brown, according to=20
them, has added insult to injury by calling the villain of the story=20
Leigh - first name - and Teabing - an anagram of Baigent - as his=20
last name), in October of 2004 filed a lawsuit against Dan Brown,=20
accusing him of having plagiarized their book. In fact, we do find=20
there already the Priory of Sion's connections with the Chapel of=20
Rosslyn, the Church of Saint-Sulpice, and the idea that the Holy=20
Grail is really the Sang r=E9al, i.e., a person containing in herself=20
the blood of Christ. =ABLincoln has decided not to be part of the=20
copyright action because of ill health, but is said to support it=BB=20
(Elizabeth Day, =ABDa Vinci Code Bestseller Is Plagiarism, Authors=20
Claim=BB, The Sunday Telegraph, October 3, 2004).
Could not The Messianic Legacy have it right, in the sense that=20
false documents were fabricated in order to corroborate a true=20
story? Starting from the beginning, the Priory of Sion does exist,=20
doesn't it?
It certainly does exist. It was founded on the 7th of May, 1956 at=20
Annemasse by Pierre Plantard with statutes duly filed with the Under-
Prefect of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois with the complete name of Priory=20
of Sion - C.I.R.C.U.I.T (Cavalry of Institution and Catholic Rule=20
and of Independent Traditionalist Union). Article 3 of the statutes=20
give an account of the origins of the name, which is derived not=20
from Jerusalem but from Mount Zion (Sion in French), a hill near=20
Annemasse, where they were supposed to construct =ABa Priory which=20
would be a center of investigation, meditation, rest and prayer=BB for=20
what was intended to be one of the many small esoteric orders that=20
were common at the time in France. Aside from that, the Priory of=20
Sion was built along the model of the other organizations that=20
Plantard had founded since he was 17 years old in 1937, with the=20
names: Union Fran=E7aise, R=E9novation Nationale Fran=E7aise and Alpha=20
Galates. The common characteristics between these organizations and
the Priory of Sion were that they all were political in nature=20
(they were monarchists, and Plantard was originally interested in=20
the monarchist movement Action Fran=E7aise, although at Annemasse it=20
was involved, above all, in promoting low-income housing) and the=20
fact that they never had more than a dozen members. Anyway, the=20
Priory of Sion founded in 1956 at Annemasse in a sense still exists=20
today, as a tiny organization within the larger subculture of=20
esoteric societies of France.
But wasn't the Priory of Sion an organization founded by Godefroy de=20
Bouillon (1060-1100), as claimed both by the Dossier secrets and by=20
Dan Brown in the =ABFact=BB page of The Da Vinci Code?
During the 1960's, when he was preparing the Dossier secrets hoax,=20
Plantard - who, as we know, originally borrowed the name =ABPriory of=20
Sion=BB from a hill in Annemasse where he intended to build a center=20
for spiritual retreats - discovered in the history of the Crusades=20
(by which he was often inspired for his fantasies) an =ABAbbey of Our=20
Lady of Mount Zion=BB founded in 1099 in Jerusalem precisely by=20
Godefroy de Bouillon, who later became King of Jerusalem after the=20
First Crusade. The community of monks of the Abbey (and=20
not =ABPriory=BB, as the superior was called Abbot and not Prior) in=20
Palestine continued to exist until 1291, when it was destroyed by=20
the advancing Muslims. The few surviving monks took refuge in=20
Sicily, where their community was extinguished in the 14th century.=20
This was a very normal community of Catholic monks, without any ties=20
to the Knights Templar, Mary Magdalene or esoteric secrets:=20
the =ABrecovery=BB of which by Plantard was simply the use of their=20
name, and nothing else.
And what about those important people, like Leonardo da Vinci,=20
Newton, Victor Hugo=85 Don't they have some relation to the Priory of=20
Sion?
Certainly not: neither do they have ties to Plantard's Priory,=20
founded in 1956; nor to the abbey of monks founded in Palestine,=20
extinct in the 14th century. Actually, Plantard was inspired for his=20
list of Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion by some of the lists of=20
alleged =ABImperators=BB, i.e., supreme heads, and =ABdistinguished=20
members=BB of the AMORC, the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis,=20
which circulated in France, were AMORC was quite successful. AMORC=20
had been founded in 1915 in the United States by Harvey Spencer=20
Lewis (1883-1939), and Plantard was in contact with certain leaders=20
of the French branch (some of them later left AMORC) dating back to=20
the 1940's. Except for Cocteau and Msgr. Ducaud-Bourget (who, long=20
before becoming famous, was vicar of the Paris church of Saint Louis=20
d'Antin, where Plantard worked shortly as a sexton), all the names=20
of the Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion can be found,=20
coincidentally enough, in texts by French leaders of AMORC. Many=20
esoteric
societies established from the 18th to the 20th century give to=20
their members mythical genealogies that would include the Knights=20
Templar, Noah, Saint John or King Solomon, as well as famous people=20
of literature and art. Usually, most of their members are aware of=20
the merely symbolic and mythical character of these genealogies.
But didn't Leonardo leave traces of his knowledge of the secret of=20
the Priory of Sion in his Last Supper, where the person painted to=20
the right of Jesus actually appears to be a woman?
This idea has been defined as =ABabsurd=BB by one of the most learned=20
scholars of Leonardo, Professor Judith Veronica Field, who teaches=20
at the University of London and is the current president of the=20
Leonardo Da Vinci Society (cf. Gary Stern, =ABExperts Dismiss Theories=20
in Popular Book=BB, The Journal News, November 2, 2003). Given that in=20
a painting, everyone tends to see what he or she wants to see, more=20
or less suggested by the reading one has done, it is important to=20
point out that whether or not the person depicted on the right of=20
Jesus is a woman or a man, is not that relevant to the issue at hand=20
here. Neither is it necessary to return to the question of whether=20
or not Leonardo was heterosexual, homosexual or bi-sexual, about=20
which a vast amount of literature exists, or whether his preference=20
for masculine forms which seem effeminate should be considered=20
important in this debate. Whoever decides to get worked up over this=20
issue is really forgetting the essential point. Admitting that
Leonardo thought that the person sitting next to Christ in the Last=20
Supper was a woman, we have to ask ourselves how this demonstrates=20
that: (a) he thought that person to be Mary Magdalene; (b) the fact=20
that Leonardo thought such a thing would somehow make it true; (c)=20
Mary Magdalene participated in the Last Supper because she was=20
Jesus' wife; (d) the two had children; (e) those children should=20
have governed the Church; (f) to preserve this truth a secret=20
society was born, the Priory of Sion; (g) and Leonardo was a member=20
of the Priory. As we can see, it is a long road to walk down. Of all=20
these steps not only are there no proofs, but we do know with=20
certainty by whom, when, where and how the legend of the Priory of=20
Sion was invented.
What about the parchments found by the parish priest, Sauni=E8re, at=20
Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau and taken to Paris for examination, after which=20
the priest became a millionaire?
Such parchments never existed, although the priest, during the=20
renovation of his church, discovered some archaeological artefacts,=20
currently on exposition in the Museum of Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau, but=20
which have nothing to do with either Mary Magdalene or the Priory of=20
Sion. Sauni=E8re, who left meticulous records about what he did and=20
how much he spent each day (also available for consultation at the=20
same Museum), never visited Paris in his life. Nor did he become a=20
millionaire, even though he became wealthy enough to be able to=20
acquire property and build a villa and library tower. His real - as=20
opposed to fictional - wealth was explained during the course of a=20
canonical process against Sauni=E8re started by the Bishop of=20
Carcassonne, Paul F=E9lix Beuvain de Beaus=E9jour (1839-1930), the acts=20
of which are also available for consultation. Beginning in 1896,=20
Sauni=E8re embarked upon a road - illegal from the point of view of=20
both canon law and civil law, but not invented by him nor=20
particularly
mysterious - of =ABtrafficking in Masses=BB. Between 1896 and 1915 from=20
his meticulous notes one can deduce that he received stipends for at=20
least one hundred thousand Masses: five or six thousand a year at=20
the high point of the operation. The documentation exists: both in=20
terms of letters and announcements in which a =ABpoor priest=BB asks for=20
stipends for the celebration of Masses sent to convents or other=20
individuals; as well as in terms of publications in pious magazines=20
throughout all of France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy - the=20
list goes on and includes hundreds of benefactors approached many=20
times over and recorded in accounts on a month-by-month basis. The=20
objection, according to which at a time - unlike today - the=20
Catholic Church did not tolerate that a priest could accumulate=20
various intentions for a single Mass, it was impossible for Sauni=E8re=20
to celebrate five or six thousand Masses a year, does not really=20
makes the =ABtrafficking in Masses=BB activity impossible, but
certainly raises questions about the honesty of the priest: and it=20
is an objection that is answered by itself. Simply put, the parish=20
priest of Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau pocketed stipends for Masses that he=20
would never celebrate.
Yet, aren't there strange Satanic or Masonic symbols left by=20
Sauni=E8re at Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau which would confirm his occult=20
inclinations?
These are simply made-up stories. The works for the renovation of=20
the parish church were commissioned by Sauni=E8re in 1896 to a famous=20
company, the H. Giscard P=E8re et Fils of Toulouse, which was solely=20
responsible for the project. The H. Giscard company, founded in 1885=20
and in which several Giscard family members worked, was a firm which=20
served numerous parishes, as well as the famous Carmel of Lisieux.=20
Its headquarters have now been transformed into a Museum, but the=20
great-nephew of the founder, Joseph Giscard, continues to work as a=20
sculptor. The conventional style of the Giscard artists is famous in=20
France and only the ignorance of some of those who propagated the=20
Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau legend explains why certain symbols - found in=20
many other Catholic churches around the world - could be interpreted=20
as sinister or Satanic. Hence, we have the devil that supports the=20
holy water basin (a demon evidently defeated by the holy water) or=20
the words written above the entrance to the Church,
Terribilis est locus iste, which simply come from the well-known=20
vision of Jacob's ladder in Genesis 28, 17. The Bishop of=20
Carcassonne, Msgr. F=E9lix-Ars=E8ne Billard (1829-1901), a rather=20
conservative prelate who went to see the new church on the occasion=20
of a missionary effort in the village during Pentecost, 1897,=20
certainly found nothing objectionable And those who see in the Way=20
of the Cross of the Rennes-le- Ch=E2teau church =ABMasonic=BB symbols=20
should reflect on the fact that many symbols later used by=20
Freemasonry were corporative and Catholic symbols long before they=20
became Masonic. The Giscard artists of the 19th century were well=20
known and appreciated in the Catholic world precisely for their=20
conventional (at times, exaggeratedly so) style, rather bereft of=20
any uniqueness or surprises.
It is also said that the French painter, Nicolas Poussin (1594-
1655), in his famous painting The Shepherds of Arcadia, depicted a=20
tomb which is found in Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau, indicating his belonging=20
to the Priory of Sion and his knowledge of the secrets=85
In a certain sense, among the so many enigmas of Rennes-le-Ch=E2teau,=20
this is the most delightful. The so-called =ABtomb of Arques=BB=20
mentioned above was commissioned in 1932 (in substitution for a tomb=20
previously constructed in 1903 and which did not even vaguely=20
resemble the one in The Shepherds of Arcadia) by Louis Bertram=20
Lawrence (1884-1954), an American businessman of French origin.=20
Buried there are Emily Rivar=E8s Lawrence (1863-1932) and Marie=20
Rivar=E8s (1843-1922), respectively the businessman's mother and=20
grandmother, as well as two cats owned by Marie Rivar=E8s herself and=20
which had been embalmed. All of the administrative documents=20
concerning these constructions and reconstructions are still in=20
existence. The tomb can be considered vaguely reminiscent of the=20
17th century painting by Poussin. The painting was well known in its=20
own right and it is possible that it somewhat inspired the 1932=20
project. In 1988, the tomb was demolished by the actual owner with=20
the authorization of the
competent municipal authorities (those of the township of=20
Peyrolles), tired of seeing it profaned by vandals searching for the=20
secrets of the Priory of Sion. In any case, Poussin obviously could=20
not have reproduced in a painting of the 17th century a tomb built=20
in 1932.
Even admitting that the Priory of Sion is a hoax, are there not=20
proofs in the =ABGnostic=BB Gospels that Jesus Christ married Mary=20
Magdalene, and that the early Christian community did not think he=20
was God? And was this not the reason why the Catholic Church=20
arbitrarily chose the four =ABinoffensive=BB Gospels as canonical during=20
the Council of Nicea of 325, backed by the military strength of the=20
Emperor Constantine (280-337)?
Not true: there are several texts of the first Christian century in=20
which Jesus is clearly regarded as God. By the time of the=20
Muratorian Canon - which dates from around 190 A.D. - the=20
recognition of the four Gospels as canonical and the exclusion of=20
the Gnostic texts was substantially completed, 90 years before=20
Constantine was born. In terms of Mary Magdalene, the Gnostic Gospel=20
of Thomas, which Dan Brown likes so much, far from being a pro-
feminist text, asserts that the greatness of Mary Magdalene lay=20
in =AB[=85] her having become a male=BB. To Simon Peter, who objects=20
that =ABMary should leave us! Because women are not worthy of Life=BB,=20
Jesus responds: =ABBehold, I will guide her in such a way as to make=20
her a male, so that she will become a living spirit equal to you=20
males. Because every woman that becomes a male will enter into the=20
kingdom of Heaven=BB (Gospel of Thomas, 114). Of course, here we see=20
the Gnostic notion of androgyny which should not be taken literally:=20
yet we are a long way
away from feminism. Plus, no mention is made here of Jesus' and=20
Mary Magdalene's children.
The Da Vinci Code implies that the Opus Dei is a =ABsect=BB which has=20
entered into conflict with the Church in terms of its knowledge of=20
the Priory of Sion's secrets. Is this true?
In the first place, nobody can conceivably blackmail others on the=20
basis of the =ABsecrets of the Priory of Sion=BB, which basically do not=20
exist. These alleged secrets are part of a hoax which proceeds from=20
Plantard to de S=E8de, from de S=E8de to Lincoln, and from Lincoln to=20
Dan Brown. In terms of the Opus Dei (where, by the way, there are=20
no =ABmonks=BB, contrary to what Dan Brown proposes in his book), not=20
only it is an institution approved and praised by the Catholic=20
Church, but its founder, Jos=E9 Mar=EDa Escriv=E1 (1902-1975), has been=20
canonized as a saint by the Pope in 2002. Dan Brown's =ABinformation=BB=20
comes from an association of ex-members and other people hostile to=20
the Opus Dei, known as The Opus Dei Awareness Network (ODAN),=20
mentioned explicitly in the novel, which is connected to a much=20
larger =ABanti-cult movement=BB (whose controversial positions are amply=20
criticized on this web site). ODAN's aggressive opinions on Opus Dei=20
and its founder are in no way shared by the Catholic hierarchy.
But how can such a bunch of wild claims attract 17 million readers?
This is a complicated question, to be examined from a sociological=20
point of view. While leaving a more detailed discussion of this=20
question for my forthcoming book on the subject (in Italian), I=20
would simply suggest here that The Da Vinci Code brings together two=20
types of social =ABtastes=BB which appear to be quite widespread: on the=20
one hand, the notion of =ABconspiracies=BB and secret societies that=20
dominate the world; and on the other hand, an increasingly unashamed=20
and virulent anti-Catholicism.
--- End forwarded message ---
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3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru;=20
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