The Vatican says no to the makers of Angels and Demons, a prequel to the famous The Da Vinci Code movie, who wanted to film a few crucial scenes in the Vatican and two major Rome churches such as Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria.
Actually the American production asked the Italian government the permission to shoot those scenes more than a year ago, but the Diocese of Rome intervened and put its foot down.
Don Marco Fibbi, a spokesman for the above diocese explains that churches can be used only for educational purposes and can’t be turned into sets for movies that wound common religious feelings.
The Vatican considers Dan Brown’s novels blasphemous and therefore Ron Howard, director of the new movie, will have to make do with the interiors of the former royal palace of Caserta and several new sets just created in Los Angeles.
The Church will never lift its ban.