Some Catholics were angry about the portrayal of Catholicism in the book, finding it prejudiced. Linked to the novel’s villains, the organization Opus Dei rebuts at length the book’s characterization of the group and offers speakers about the organization.

The Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code by Carl Olson and Sandra Miesel answers the questions of fact and fiction posed by readers of Dan Brown’s novel. This book received attention as a Catholic debunking.

Read a Catholic Answers post assessing what is fact and what is fiction in Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code.”

The Rev. John Wauck is a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei. He lives in Rome, where he teaches literature and the Christian faith at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. Wauck has blogged about The Da Vinci Code.

Amy Welborn was a teacher of theology in Catholic high schools and is author of many books including De-coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code (Our Sunday Visitor, 2004), a Catholic response to the novel, and De-Coding Mary Magdalene: Truth, Legend and Lies (Our Sunday Visitor, 2006).

The evangelical magazine Christianity Today has compiled a number of articles it has run that are critical of The Da Vinci Code‘s portrayal of early Christianity.

Read the text of the Gospel of Mary, posted by the Gnostic Society Library.

Beliefnet’s package of stories summarizes contrasting views expressed by scholars Ben Witherington III and Karen King about the role of Mary Magdalene.

Stories in Newsweek‘s Dec. 8, 2003, issue explore new scholarship on the role of women in Scripture and discuss what is fact and what is fiction in The Da Vinci Code.