Tom Hanks and Opie Banned From Vatican
No filming blashphemy in the Holy See

The Vatican has barred Tom Hanks and producer-director Ron Howard from filming the controversial "Angels & Demons," the follow-up to the equally anti-Catholic “The DaVinci Code,” in two historic cathedrals after branding author Dan Brown's works anti-Catholic blasphemy.

"Normally we read the script, but this time it was not necessary," said Msgr. Marco Fibbi, spokesman for the diocese of Rome. "The name 'Dan Brown' was enough."

The crew wanted to film in the churches of Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria, two architectural jewels in the heart of Rome crammed with Renaissance art and sculpture.

Archbishop Velasio De Paolis called it a no-brainer to ban the film, accusing Brown of turning "the Gospels upside down."

"It would be unacceptable to transform churches into film sets so that his blasphemous novels can be made into mendacious films," said the archbishop.