The ninth sacrament?

Parish life patterns were predictable once upon a time. All sorts of new faces turned up in the crowds on Christmas and Easter. All Souls Day, sometimes called "Black Christmas" by the clergy because of the collection's size, also brought throngs to church.

Then, about 15 years ago, Ash Wednesday began a dramatic climb to the top of attendance charts. Now Ash Wednesday's crowds surpass All Souls' Day attendance. Theologian Father Vincent Donovan said that receiving ashes has become the eighth sacrament!

Move over Ash Wednesday--another event is topping parish charts. It's The DaVinci Code (Doubleday) presentations. This book by Dan Brown has close to 6 million copies in print, a seat on the bestsellers' list for nearly a year, and vast numbers of parishioners coming to hear talks on the thriller.

One parish had to issue admission tickets in advance of its Da Vinci Code talk, and the demand was so great three separate evening presentations needed to be scheduled. Rumors of ticket scalping, yet to be confirmed, circulated. Yet another parish had so many people standing in church aisles the pastor feared the local fire department might shut things down.

Why has this book captured the interest of so many people? Some commentators claim this story delves deeply into the unconscious feminine archetype present in all humanity and frees what has been repressed both by society and by the church. Heavy stuff to be sure.

Might the popularity of this book be less complicated than unconscious motivation and mythic archetypes? After all, who doesn't love an intriguing adventure story?

Many people remember when John F. Kennedy casually mentioned his love of James Bond novels. Americans, still caught up in the Cold War mentality that pitted the U.S. against the U.S.S.R., started reading Ian Fleming's novels one right after another, and Hollywood made a string of Bond films.

Likewise, everyone loves a secret, especially if they can find it out. The old television show "I've Got a Secret" capitalized on this dynamic. So, too, does The DaVinci Code, ratcheting up the secrecy motif to extraordinarily intriguing levels through all sorts of clever conundrums. Everyone craves the inside scoop. A book with church secrecy at its heart could not have hit the streets at a better time. The sex-abuse cover-up of the past few years makes the seemingly implausible plot of DaVinci credible. Unwittingly, many church hierarchs have been this book's best salesmen.

How long before these DaVinci church crowds abate remains to be seen. Will the sure-to-follow movie be the occasion for another round of parish lectures and seminars overflowing ecclesial spaces? Might The DaVinci Code become the ninth sacrament?

Answers to these and other questions surrounding this book remain a secret.

PETER GILMOUR ([e-mail]) teaches at the Institute of Pastoral Studies of Loyola University Chicago.