Da Vinci Code Benefits Opus Dei

The head of Opus Dei claimed yesterday that Dan Brown's portrayal of his fellowship as a murderous global conspiracy had done it more good than harm.

In a pre-emptive strike at the film of Brown's book, The Da Vinci Code, to be premiered next week at Cannes, Monsignor Javier Echevarría told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that since the publication of the novel interest in Opus Dei had soared. Its internet site was registering 3m hits a month and it had been the subject of countless articles and documentaries.

Opus Dei (The Work of God), which claims 85,000 members in 60 countries, is a theologically conservative movement that seeks to integrate work and religion. Its main representative in The Da Vinci Code is a murderous albino monk, although in fact members wear normal clothes and do ordinary jobs. The organisation's 74-year-old Spanish leader or "prelate" himself figures in the book, disguised as the scheming Manuel Aringarosa, whose mission is to prevent the emergence of the secret at the core of the novel - that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had descendants alive today.

"That fantastical gentleman has turned a profit for us - not just in dollars - in the same way as so many who attack us," said Mgr Echevarría.