There was mixed reaction from religious organisations in Hong Kong this week as advance movie ticket sales for The Da Vinci Code indicated sell-out opening shows.
The Hong Kong diocese of the Roman Catholic Church will hold seminars on Saturday and Saturday week, responding to what it called people's 'misunderstandings'. Spokeswoman Loura Foo said: 'The diocese has not called for a ban on the film or asked people not to see it, but it's up to priests to decide what to do in their own parishes.'
Hong Kong Catholic Diocese Schools chairman Alex Cheung Chi-hung has asked his staff to attend, 'to learn the real meaning of this kind of film'. He was confident that adults and students would come to their own conclusions about its message, although younger pupils would be given 'a picture of what's right and wrong'.
Timothy Ha, chairman of the Anglican Sheng Kung Hui, said the film was 'a thriller and very good entertainment' and his view was that there was no need for the group to take a stand on it.
Reverend Yuen Tin-yau, executive secretary of the Methodist Church, Hong Kong, said there would be 'no official reaction' to the film, although teachers would discuss it with students if they raised questions about the way 'it contradicts the Christian faith'.
Andy Fung Wa-chau, principal of Yuen Long Lutheran College, said that although there was concern over the film's 'distortion of the Christian church', the convocation would neither ask people to boycott it nor call for a ban.