Opus Dei Won't Boycott "The Da Vinci Code" Upcoming Film

The conservative Roman Catholic group Opus Dei stated on Tuesday that they had no intention of calling for a boycott of the upcoming film "The Da Vinci Code," but also added their hopes for the long awaited film to still be changed, so that "there aren't references that would hurt Catholics."

Opus Dei claimed in a statement released in Rome that Sony Pictures still had time to make changes that would be appreciated by Catholics, "particularly in these days in which everyone has noted the painful consequences of intolerance". The group did an apparent reference to the violence in the Muslim world sparked by the publication of Prophet Muhammad's caricatures.

The film, starring Tom Hanks and scheduled for a May 19 release, is based on the best-selling Dan Brown novel, which portrayed Opus Dei as a murderous, power-hungry sect, to the disappointment and even fury of its leaders. The novel contends that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had descendants, and that Opus Dei and the Catholic Church were at the center of covering it up.