The DA Vinci Code

FACTS
BEHIND THE
FICTION

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The DA Vinci Code

THE STORY

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The DA Vinci Code
•The code refers to
cryptic messages
incorporated in
Leonardo’s work.

•Leonardo was a
member of an ancient
secret society called
“The Priory of Sion”.

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The DA Vinci Code

• Its main aim is to preserve a

secret: Jesus was married to
Mary Magdalene and designated
her leader of His movement.
Mary Magdalene is the real Holy
Grail.

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Claims
• Jesus was a mere man. He had Mary
Magdalene as sexual partner who was carrying
his child in her womb while he hung on the
Cross.
• The apostles, who initiated the male-
dominated, hierarchical Church, were jealous of
her. They persecuted her so in the end, she fled
to France where her line “the sacred Feminine”
lives up to today.

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• To suppress the “sacred feminine” line of
Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ divinity was invented
by the Church through Emperor Constantine
who influenced the Council of Nicea (325) to
proclaim so. The Church produced Scriptures
that would support this doctrine.

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• Thus, there have always been two parallel lines
that trace back to Jesus:
a) the apostolic line (the Church)
b) the Magdalene line which carries the true
blood of Jesus, with Mary Magdalene as the
Holy Grail.

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•This secret has been
preserved for centuries
by an organization
called the Priory of
Sion. They possess
ancient documents
-rediscovered by the
Knights Templars
during the Crusades -
which give evidence of
this “truth”.

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•The Priory has kept them hidden, along with
the identity of the offspring of Christ and Mary
Magdalene whose bloodline continues to this
day.
•For centuries, the Church has attempted to gain
possession of these documents.

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THE PLOT
•A mysterious
“Teacher” offers the
head of Opus Dei,
Spanish Bishop
Manuel Aringarosa,
the possibility of
gaining possession of
the secret documents.
He lives at Murray
Hill place •Opus Dei finds this
proposition attractive. The
new Pope views Opus Dei
unfavorably and has decided
to expel the group from the
Catholic Church. 10
•To protect Opus Dei’s position in the Church,
Bishop Aringarosa agrees intending to use the
secret documents to blackmail the Vatican. He
accepts and offers to pay 20 million euros.
•The Bishop assigns a numerary, Silas, to carry
out the task under the direction of the “teacher”.

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•The book begins with the
numerary carrying out the
last of several murders in
Paris as he tries to locate
the documents.
•The last murdered man, it
turns out, is the head of the
Priory of Sion. Before
dying, he leaves several
cryptic clues concerning the
location of the documents.

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• The story develops around the race between
Opus Dei and the Church on one hand and on
the other, an investigative Harvard Professor of
religious symbology Robert Langdon and his
assistant woman cryptologist of French police,
Sophie Neveu to secure documents which reveal
this secret. The assistant turns out to be a direct
descendant of the Magdalene line.

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Facts behind the fiction

Where does the

confusion lie?

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Dan Brown’s claim that all
descriptions of documents and secret
rituals in this novel are accurate and
based specifically on the fact that in
1975, Paris Bibliotheque Nationale
discovered parchments known as Les
Dossiers secrets which reveal the story
of the Priory of Sion.

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•In the first place, the basis of this claim does
not exist. The alleged secrets of the Priory of
Sion are a hoax.
•The Secret dossiers which purport to trace the
history of the Priory have been publicly
admitted by its author Philippe de Cherisey
and his patrons Gerarde de Sede and Pierre
Plantard as false.

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•What’s so special about the
secret dossiers?

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•They claim that the legitimate heirs to the
throne of France to this day are the
Merovingians who are not extinct but have
surviving descendants still alive. In order to
protect them, a secret society called Priory of
Sion was put up which according to some false
documents too, had as Grand Masters famous
people like Victor Hugo, Claude Debussy,
Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton.

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•Where does Jesus and Mary
Magdalene fit in?

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•On the basis of this “secret dossiers” an
English actor-director did a documentary
about the Priory of Sion. He combined it with
the ideas in the book of Robert Ambelain
(Jesus ou le mortel secret des templiers) where
he claimed Jesus had a partner.

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•The end result: the Priory of Sion protected
the Merovingians not just because they were
heirs to the throne but because they were
descendants of Jesus Christ and Mary
Magdalene.
•This same documentary was later made into a
book “Holy blood and Holy grail”.

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Facts behind the fiction

•What about the confusion

regarding Opus Dei?

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Dan Brown’s information comes from an
association of people hostile to Opus Dei
(ODAN) which is connected to a much larger
anti-cult movement. ODAN’s aggressive
opinions on Opus Dei and its founders are in
no way shared by the Catholic hierarchy.

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•Apart from the Bishop, only one member of
the Work is portrayed,Silas the Numerary.
•He is an albino, dresses like a monk, has taken
a vow of celibacy, and spends most of his time
praying in his room in the Center. This
lifestyle is presented as the norm for
numeraries.

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•The most emphasized aspect of his life is his
grotesquely exaggerated corporal
mortification.
•His fanatical and unthinking loyalty and
obedience lead him to commit multiple
murders, while believing that he is serving God
in doing so.

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 •In general, Opus Dei is presented as
traditional, reactionary in doctrine and
practice, hostile to Vatican Council II and
resists the modernizing tendencies of a new
Pope.

(For clarifications on the various issues as presented by The Da Vinci Code

with regard to Opus Dei, refer to related articles at www.opusdei.org)

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Why does such a hoax convince
millions of readers?

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TDVC brings together two types of tastes:
• on one hand, those who hunger after
conspiracies and secret societies;
• on the other hand, there are those who have
an increasingly unashamed and virulent anti-
Catholicism.

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What can we do?

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THE CHRISTIAN’S RESPONSE

•Brush up on one’s knowledge of Catholic doctrine

especially on key theological issues raised (see
www.jesusdecoded.com)
• Encourage persons to discuss their views on the book/film,
serving as a springboard to guiding them to want to discover
the TRUTHS about the Catholic faith; always guiding
others with a tone of understanding & charity.
• Circulate “The Da Vinci Deception” among different
groups.
• Conduct short series of doctrinal talks/presentations for
different groups on the theological issues raised.
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THE CHRISTIAN’S RESPONSE

• Encourage media contacts to write articles as antidotes

to the confusion sown by the book.

• Encourage publishing firms/dioceses to publish booklets

on the doctrine of theological issues raised.

• For clarifications on Opus Dei, direct persons to the

official website of Opus Dei (www.opusdei.org) where they
can find the answers to issues raised by the book.

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The DA Vinci Code

The fact is, it is fiction.

The fact is, it is business.

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