In Rome, women discuss 'Da Vinci Code' depiction of Mary Magdalene

Published: 2006-03-17

ROME (CNS) -- "The Da Vinci Code" came in for resounding criticism at a recent round-table discussion at the Marianum Pontifical Theological Faculty in Rome. Moderator Marinella Perroni, a New Testament theologian, said "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown joins a list of books and other media treatments that exploit the figure of Mary Magdalene. Maria Luisa Rigato, a retired professor of exegesis at the Pontifical Gregorian University, said she found Brown's book entertaining fiction -- but that it was clear to real scholars that Mary Magdalene was neither the wife nor the lover of Jesus. The Catholic participants drew a sharp distinction between what is known about Mary Magdalene from the approved Gospels and what has been circulated for centuries in the so-called Gnostic gospels, rejected by the church long ago. But a Waldensian pastor, the Rev. Letizia Tomassone, said she thought the noncanonical gospels, although they are clearly later manuscripts, can be valid secondary sources of information. In some of these later gospels, she said, Mary Magdalene appears as the "mediator of the resurrected Christ," which aligns with what the Gospel of St. John says about her being the first witness of the resurrection. The experts generally agreed, however, that there is no scriptural evidence that Jesus and Mary were lovers, which is a key element in the plot of "The Da Vinci Code."

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