ENCINITAS, Calif., Nov. 17 /Christian Wire Service/ -- A leading Catholic outreach organization is responding to criticisms that the Church is being used by Hollywood by offering resources to fuel evangelism. In the weeks before the theatrical release of CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Christian leaders have entered into a hot debate regarding how strongly Christian marketers should back Hollywood films. Spurred partly by the marketing success of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, an aggressive network of Christian promoters and publicists have banded together to turn family-friendly movies into savvy evangelization campaigns. But, some claim these efforts are too closely tied to promotional dollars.

At least one Catholic group disagrees and believes that backing these movies is not only an opportunity, but a duty � a stupendous task to be at service to the Gospel by directing the culture towards the true, the good and the beautiful. Says Tom Allen of Catholic Outreach, "As Christians, we need to embrace family-friendly movies from Hollywood. People get their information about life, the universe, and everything else primarily from TV and the movies. The release of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a motion picture is a particularly welcome event because it gives us the essence of the Christian Gospel in a way that everyone can understand."

So, who's profiting from this marketing machine? If you ask the folks at Catholic Outreach, "It's the culture, stupid!" Says Allen, "We're utterly compelled to help fuel and drive Hollywood's new interest in faith-based movies. We support it because we want it to continue and we want the mass public to profit from it spiritually. It's what countless concerned citizens have longed for and prayed for. Now it's here, prayers answered, and we intend to make the most of it."

The film version of Lewis' classic work will be released on December 9th. It promises to be every inch the blockbuster adventure that The Lord of the Rings was and Catholic Outreach is going to be there to help the millions of film fans who will enter the world of Narnia for the first time. Matthew Pinto, Co-Founder of Catholic Outreach, agrees that the film offers a chance to go beyond what the filmgoer sees on the big screen. "As with The Passion of the Christ, there are layers of meaning both to the story and to Lewis' and the filmmakers telling of it. The shining star for the culture war is that in this epic film, just beneath the surface of the story, lies His-story -- a beautiful metaphorical tale of Jesus Christ and God's plan for humanity."

In addition to their support of the film, Catholic Outreach has developed several resources for turning the Narnia film into a true evangelization opportunity:

-- NarniaOutreach.com � A fan site and resource center for parishes, schools and groups who want to use the film as a faith-formation opportunity.

-- "A Guide to Narnia--100 Questions about The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" � By the same authors who released the NY Times bestseller, A Guide to the Passion: 100 Questions About The Passion of the Christ, this Narnia travel guide reveals the Christian symbolism found throughout this classic tale.

-- Free Narnia study guides � These free resources are designed to spur Narnia discussions for youth and adults. They are available for downloading at NarniaOutreach.com.

Catholic Outreach is a lay-run organization dedicated to creating and distributing high-impact, low-cost evangelization and faith formation resources for Catholic evangelism and outreach. Tom Allen and Matthew Pinto are the co-authors, publishers, and distributors of A Guide to the Passion: 100 Questions About The Passion of The Christ, which sold more than one million copies worldwide.