Next to the eternity of the afterlife, does screen immortality really count for much? Not in the view of the Roman Catholic Church, apparently. Approached by director Ron Howard and his Sony Pictures production team, the church refused to allow the director to shoot the “The DaVinci Code” prequel “Angels & Demons” in two of its Vatican City outposts, Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria, both of which appear in Dan Brown’s novel. Neither “DaVinci” nor “A&D” conform with the RC view of Jesus as a chaste, not to mention childless, divine being.

While you can’t fault the Vatican’s principled stand, PR types might take issue with its strategy. The original “The DaVinci Code” movie overcame Vatican opposition and miserable reviews to rack up 3/4 of a billion dollars in box office. More importantly, the churches in question are so beautiful that they would be bound to lure unchurched souls, despite the politics of the “Angels & Demons” plot. In other words, if you got it, flaunt it.
For more on the controversy, click here.