Fans Line Up For "Angels & Demons" Tours

Tourists Don't Seem To Mind That Diocese Banned Film Crews From Sites Featured In Book

(CBS)  Fans of the book "Angels and Demons" keep streaming into the churches in Rome where the plot unfolds, but the film crew turning it into a movie has been banned from church properties by the Rome archdiocese.

The plot is not overtly anti-church, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey but some of the most graphic scenes are not something with which the The Vatican wants to be associated.

"I mean it's kind of hard to give permission to film two murders, especially when the two victims are cardinals and one dies by having earth stuffed in his mouth and the other one is set on fire hanging above the altar with the sanctuary lamps," said Father Greg Apparcel, Rector, Santa Susanna Church.

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Photos: "Angels And Demons"

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The scene takes place in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, which the book puts in the wrong piazza - one of a string of glaring errors.

The novel has the sculptures on one of Rome's most famous fountains, the Four Rivers in Piazza Navonna, representing Europe.

In fact they denote the Danube in Europe, the Nile in Africa, the Ganges in Asia, and the Plate in South America.

But it is the book and movie of "The Da Vinci Code," rather than errors in "Angels and Demons" that seems to be the unforgivable sin.

A Vatican spokesman said that author Dan Brown had "turned the Gospels upside down to poison the faith" and that it was unacceptable to turn churches into sets for "mendacious films."

Nonetheless a guide said he takes at least one hundred tourists a week on an "Angels and Demons" tour - and no one objects.

"You never get a priest coming up and yelling at you 'get out you heretics,'" said guide Angelo Esposito. "Sometimes they might be a little bit edgy because they know it's 'Angels and Demons' but at the same time I think they are aware that it's, you know, a work of fiction and that it's bringing people into their churches."

And it's a fair bet that those who see it in the movies won't know they aren't looking at the real churches - whether the Vatican likes it or not.