The Roman Catholic church is reportedly at loggerheads with best-selling author Dan Brown, over The Da Vinci Code. According to Vatican representative Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Giornale, , the novel contains "shameful and unfounded lies". The Cardinal went on to say that "The book is everywhere. There is a very real risk that many people who read it will believe that the fables it contains are true." The Da Vinci Code tells the story of Robert Langdon, a professor and code expert, who is investigating the murder of the curator of the Louvre Museum in Paris, following a series of clues buried in the works of the art gallery. Beside the dead body, the police find a coded message that Langdon and Sophie Neveu, a police cryptographer, must race against time and the French police to work out. The entire mystery hinges on an interpretation of Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, but things get even more complicated when it is discovered that the deceased was a member of the Priory of Sion, a secret society of which Da Vinci had also been a member. An adaptation of the book is planned for the cinema, which will be directed by Ron Howard (Apollo 13), and star Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou of Amelie fame, and Jean Reno. | 
