Vatican City - THE Catholic Church is taking on the best-selling mystical thriller The Da Vinci Code by launching a website that challenges the basis of the book.
In an unprecedented step, it is using the Feast of St Mary Magdalene today to give enthusiasts of the book access to what the church claims is the correct version of the saint's history.
In Dan Brown's multi-million selling novel - which investigates the whereabouts of the Holy Grail, the cup which Christ is said to have used at the Last Supper - it is claimed that Mary Magdalene was in fact Jesus' wife and that they had children.
The author claims the book's premise is based on fact and, in its preface, he says "all descriptions of documents and secret rituals are accurate".
The Catholic Church's website includes biographies of the saint and contains numerous links to sites disputing The Da Vinci Code's assertions.
Clare Ward, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation, said: "This site is very much a reaction to the number of inquiries we have received from non-Catholics, and also we were disturbed by the nature of some of these, asking if Jesus had been married and whether St Mary Magdalene had children," she said.