Amman - Jordan's Council of Churches has urged the government to prevent the screening in the country of the Da Vinci Code film, based on the controversial blockbuster novel by American writer Dan Brown.
But the country's censorship authorities said Sunday they cannot take a decision on whether to allow screening of the movie or not before watching it.
'It is too early to decide whether we will allow the movie to be broadcast or not. We must watch it,' Sami Mahasneh, head of the Censorship Department at the Higher Media Council was quoted as saying by the Jordan Times daily newspaper.
'We don't know how the director handled the controversial issues in the novel. We cannot pass our judgment from what people say,' he added.
The film has not reached Jordan yet, but officials are expecting it within the coming 10 days.
The novel, which has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, was banned from sale in Lebanon due to its controversial religious themes and rumours of conspiracy in the Vatican.
The book portrays the Catholic Church as a shadowy organization that has spent 2,000 years covering up Jesus' marriage to Mary Magdalene. The book also says that Jesus has descendants from Mary and their blood line runs until today.
Mahasneh insisted that the movie would be handled like any other movie, despite an appeal from the Council of Churches, the Kingdom's highest Christian body, to withhold it from cinemas.
However, he pointed out that the government 'might consult' top Christian religious figures before making a final decision.
'We respect Christians' opinions and sensitivities, but the final decision is ours,' Mahasneh was quoted as saying.
Hanna Noor, secretary general of the Council of Churches, urged the government to 'respect the sensitivities of Christians' feelings and take all necessary measures to ban the movie from theatres.'
'The book was full of fabricated lies about Jesus,' he said.
'The movie crosses all red lines as far as Jesus is concerned as it contradicts the teachings of both the Bible and the Koran,' he added.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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