Because of the overwhelming response to the lecture last night, an encore presentation will be held on Thursday, February 5 at 7:00pm. It is well worth the time if you can make it.
My report from tonight's lecture:
I had called Kenrick earlier to make sure I had my directions correct and to confirm all was a go. It was suggested that I arrive earlier as there had been numerous inquiries made recently and they were expecting a crowd. I arrived about an hour before the start of the program. It was the first time I had ever been there. It is an architecturally beautiful complex. I found out exactly where the program was to be held and how to get there. It was in the auditorium which is directly beneath the chapel.
About 6:30, I entered the auditorium to get a seat, and found a seat in the first row. With eyesight and hearing on the fritz, I prefer this. Not too many people had arrived yet, but by 7:00 pm, the place was overflowing, every seat was occupied, and two classrooms with video feed were set up to handle the extra attendees.
The order of speakers were Dr. Welch, Fr. Lockwood, and Fr. Witt. Dr. Welch began with an overview of the plot of the book and a description of the characters. He listed a number of basic errors and conjectures the author made and presented the factual information to refute the errors. He also discussed the subject of faith as defined in the book (page 341) which really isn't faith at all but appears to me to be basic relativism.
Fr. Lockwood then proceeded to offer an historical background on what many perceive to be the sources of the errors and inaccuracies in the book, namely the apocryphal writings of the first and second century, particularly those of the Gnostics. His presentation laid an excellent foundation for those who may have been unfamiliar with the various spurious works that existed early in the Church's history and how the Gnostics and others used the Gospels to elevate Mary Magdalen to extreme heights to bolster their views.
Lastly, Fr. Witt gave his presentation, which, indirectly challenged "The Da Vinci Code" by exposing the flawed, defective, and inconsistent sources from which the author drew his material. His 'outed' these sources, such as the book, "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", and others for complete shams by using the authors' own words. He demonstrated that the authors, while purporting to engage in historical research, were either incapable or unwilling to do so objectively. He revealed that many of Dan Brown's hypotheses and 'facts' were completely and utterly lacking in credibility, such as the 'Priory of Sion', which he showed was a 1950's invention of an eccentric anti-Semite rather than a secret society founded in 1099.
There was a question and answer period after the lectures and most of the questions asked seemed typical. I was quite surprised and elated, however, that the panel seemed to be rather unimpressed with the 'higher critical method' of biblical scholarship, Q source theory, a late dating of the Gospels that many of us have come to expect from many of the 'enlightened' these days. The last person to ask a question, after some rambling, posed the proposition that the book 'lifted up' the value of women because of the way Mary Magdalen was portrayed and wondered why the Church was so inclined to suppress women and treat them as second class citizens? Typical, this seems to happen at every conference or lecture. Fr. Lockwood and Fr. Witt both answered from different perspectives and both answers received a round of applause.
I would recommend this lecture for all, if for no other reason than to be better prepared to respond to those who may become confused by the book. Fr. Lockwood said that he became interested in doing this lecture when some of his parishioners asked him after Mass why the Church had never told the people that Jesus was married - why the Church withheld this information from them!
Folks, this really happens! Especially today in this age of uncatechized Catholics. You can help them and help yourself by being better prepared to give a reason for and explanation of the faith .