Joe, you do make an excellent point. There were those who did believe that the book was truthful. This underlines what I mentioned, that the book would not be taken as anything other than fiction by anyone with the catechetical knowledge of the average fourth grader. If you look at what I like to call the “tsotscky spirituality” that abounds nowadays (i.e., getting stuff like “The Money Angel” in a chain e-mail, letters from so-called “psychics” who promise riches and good health and say that they have been told this by one of the saints,) it’s pretty painfully obvious that there are many adults who DO lack basic understanding about the faith and its position on superstition and the occult. I doubt someone with a good grasp on that would have been influenced by the occult references in “DaVinci Code.”
The book, and the movie, deserve to go the way of all bad literature–into the abyss of obscurity. But I for one think that its rabid popularity, along with the existence of practices such as I described, is a real argument highlighting the need for improved adult catechesis–from the pulpit! Most grown-ups aren’t going to commit to a catechetical series of lectures, but many still do go to church. Superstition and occultism can be threats to one’s soul, and I for one have never heard a homily on these very things, or the correct use of popular pious practices. Things like this are, in my opinion, something that the Church does need to address loud and clear, and where it’s going to be heard the most. Putting a program on EWTN or an article in the diocesan newspaper would just be “preaching to the choir,” but maybe hearing it on Sunday morning at church would give those who are given to an attraction to the occult because they believe it is harmless would give a few people pause to consider.
