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	Scandals, Not 'Code,' Reflect Poorly on Catholicism By Julie Muhlstein Herald Columnist [Washington] May 21, 2006 http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/05/21/100loc_b1muhlstein001.cfm Pretend you're in the refectory of the Dominican convent at Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. You stand before the real thing, Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper." Step closer, if it's allowed. Is the figure to Jesus' right really Mary Magdalene, not the apostle John? Oh wait, that's fiction, convincingly created by novelist Dan Brown in his mega-bestseller "The Da Vinci Code." I read it, couldn't put it down. The wild plot debunks Christianity top to bottom. In Brown's scenario, Jesus wasn't divine, he married Mary Magdalene, and their descendants survive to this day. "The Da Vinci Code" movie, which opened Friday, is said to be less compelling. Even so, Catholic leaders the world over see a need to vocally discredit what's essentially a potboiler of a murder mystery. On the Web site for the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle, which covers all of Western Washington, Archbishop Alexander Brunett's May 18 column sends readers to a site, www. jesusdecoded.com, created at the request of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Point by point, it counters the novel's claims. In a word, "The Da Vinci Code" is about secrets. Brown's book centers on a church that must keep its shocking secrets in order to survive. The real Catholic Church, my church, is using lots of energy defending itself against fictional secrets, as if a page-turning novel could actually shatter heartfelt beliefs of the faithful. Please, don't insult us. I'm mystified by all the controversy about a fictional plot, when there are real secrets - horrible nonfiction - that have deeply wounded the Catholic Church, damaged its people, and caused financial catastrophe across the country. Secrets? From Boston to Everett, Catholics have heard denials and later learned terrible truths in scandals in which priests have sexually abused children. Friday's Herald contained a review of the "The Da Vinci Code," saying the movie's more lackluster than blockbuster. The same newspaper also contained an Associated Press article about a federal judge rejecting a $45.7 million settlement for 75 people who've filed sex-abuse claims against the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, which is bankrupt. The judge decided the settlement didn't make accommodations for all possible victims. Nan Waldie, a former Catholic chaplain with the Archdiocese of Seattle, has seen the human toll of the scandals. Now in divinity training to become an Episcopal priest, Waldie, of Mercer Island, worked as a counselor through her involvement with Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic lay group, and the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. "I worked for a short time as a liaison between the Seattle Archdiocese, where I was a chaplain, and SNAP. I was invited to some of their meetings, and those personal stories were horrific," Waldie said. Now a spiritual counselor with Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, Waldie described one devastating encounter. "It wasn't even direct abuse, but the fallout," she said. "I was working with a man in his 90s who was dying slowly at a nursing home run by the Sisters of Providence, a good nursing home, in Issaquah. "This poor man was so angry, and the root of that anger was that his church had betrayed him," Waldie said. Disillusioned by revelations of abuse, and having financially supported the church and attended Mass all his life, "he didn't know if he could even believe in God," Waldie said. "It was heart-breaking." "Nobody has a right to take that away from people, particularly not priests and bishops," she said. "Always, the church does a tremendous amount of good. Its job is to be a light to the world. The church is supposed to work at being holy and pure." When I told Waldie I found it odd the Catholic Church is so intent on bashing fiction, she said, "I think 'The Da Vinci Code' is the perfect foil. It's great timing, a perfect distraction. It's something they can control. It makes them look good, and people can speak on it with authority." And the book? "It's fun," Waldie said. "But it's fiction. It's so insignificant, compared to the real lies." Waldie has her own idea about the current appeal of "The Da Vinci Code." Why would readers and moviegoers so fervently buy into a far-fetched retelling of Christianity? "People are suspect because of the integrity of the church right now," she said. Perhaps ugly fact begets outrageous fiction. Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.
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