Millions of fans around the world are just now almost dying with anticipation at the thought they will soon get to see the sequel to the 2008 hit “Twilight,” “New Moon.” The Vatican, though for one, is none too happy about the blockbuster film that details the romance between a vampire and a mortal on one hand, and the unrequited love of a wolf for the same mortal girl, as the Daily Mail informs.

In a press statement just released, the Vatican says that “New Moon,” which premiered in Italy the other day and is already wrecking havoc at the box-office and among fans, is a very good example of a “moral vacuum” that uses extremes to appeal to audiences, but brings forth a message that, in itself, should be reason enough for serious concern. The Church also points out that movies like this one, although apparently innocent at first sight, are terribly wrong especially when they reach young audiences like “New Moon” does.

“New Moon” is a “mixture of excesses aimed at young people and gives a heavy esoteric element. Men and women are transformed with horrible masks and it is once again that age-old trick or ideal formula of using extremes to make an impact at the box office. This film is nothing more than a moral vacuum with a deviant message and as such should be of concern,” Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, of the Pontifical Council of Culture, says in the statement cited by the aforementioned publication.

Whatever might be the reason behind this veiled “ban” that the Vatican seems to be urging for in the case of “New Moon,” experience has long shown that such actions eventually work out for the better in terms of grossing for one production. It’s happened with Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” and then, with the sequel to it, “Angels & Demons.” As fans must know, it has also happened to “Harry Potter,” of which the Vatican once said it was proposing a very wrong hero in the person of the young wizard. Later on, though, the Church had a change of heart and admitted that Harry Potter was the type of movie hero that knew how to make the distinction between good and evil.

At this point in time, Summit Entertainment, the movie studio behind “The Twilight Saga,” is not available for comment on the Vatican’s position as regards “New Moon.” Chances are though that it will abstain from saying anything on it so as not to encourage any animosity towards the production on which very high hopes are pinned.