Actor Tom Hanks in a scene from The Da Vinci Code: Scratch and win

London, May 12: Scratchcards, usually associated with lottery games offering “instant cash prizes”, are to be put to a more elevated use ? debunking The Da Vinci Code.

The Christian Enquiry Centre is distributing 270,000 specially designed cards today to every cinema screening the Hollywood version of the Dan Brown bestseller when it is released next week.

The film is expected to be one of the biggest hits of the year despite being denounced as “stridently anti-Christian” by Vatican officials.

The cards feature 10 claims made in the book. Cinemagoers are asked to judge whether they are fact or fiction by scratching the appropriate box.

For example, the cards state that “the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is a matter of historical record”. If the box marked “fact” is scratch ed off, it will reveal a cross, while the box for “fiction” will show a tick.

The cards, which will be placed in racks in cinema foyers, will also encourage film goers to apply for a free booklet called Cracking the Da Vinci Code by Mark Stibbe, which examines the claims in more detail.

The ?20,000 “scratch-for-truth” scheme is part of a campaign by the churches to capitalise in the interest in the book.

“In The Da Vinci Code story, several of the lead characters make highly contentious claims about secret gospels, the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and whether the Church has been engaged in a cover-up for the past 2,000 years,” said Jeff Bonsor, the director of the centre.

“We want to set the record straight and introduce people to the real story of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and the events surrounding the life of arguably the most influential figure in history.”

Following an attack on the book on Easter Sunday by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the Church of England has launched a website challenging people to make up their own minds.

A more confrontational approach has been taken by the Vatican, with senior bishops calling for the film to be boycotted. Archbishop Angelo Amato, of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said: “If such lies and errors had been directed at the Koran and Holocaust they would have justly provoked a world uprising.”