Church leaders in Sussex believe the highly controversial Da Vinci Code movie could help usher in a new age of religious activity.

The central theme of the film and book - that Jesus Christ had a child with Mary Magdalene and that descendants of the couple are alive today - has split the Christian world since Dan Brown's novel starting flying off the bookshelves.

Catholics have been particularly outraged by the portrayal of Opus Dei, the conservative religious organisation which appears in the story as a murderous cult hell-bent on smothering knowledge of the descendant of Christ.

But Christians in Sussex believe that if used in the "right way" the Da Vinci Code could inspire a new generation of religious interest and help fill church pews.

The Da Vinci Code has become the subject of fresh controversy since the British release of the film, starring Audrey Tautou, Tom Hanks and Paul Bettany, on Friday.

Simon Lewis, assistant pastor of the Brighton based CityCoast Church, said: "The thing is a whole generation will have grown up and if they know nothing of the Bible they will believe what the Da Vinci Code is saying is the truth.

"Dan Brown has written in such a way that it is very believable and mixes fact with fiction so for anyone not in the know it is confusing.

"But if it is handled well and people in the church use it in the right way it is going to inspire debate and inspire people to talk about it so it could be very positive."

Debate is already taking place among some church groups eager to discover the truth behind the Da Vinci Code's claims.

The public is being invited to the Starbucks in Western Road, Brighton, on May 26 from 7pm onwards for Christ Church's debate entitled The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction?

The church group, which normally meets in the Circus Circus pub, Preston Circus, is to debate the claims made by Dan Brown and comparing it to evidence gained from early Christian documents. Garry Williams, a Bible scholar at the Church of England Theological College, London, who has written a book on the subject, will address the debate.

This, the Rev Carl Chambers hopes, will allow people from all walks of life access to a meaningful religious debate about the Da Vinci Code.

Mr Chambers said: "Dr Williams will look at the historical claims made by Dan Brown in the light of the evidence that we can rely on from the documents available to the early church, 2,000 years ago.

"There will be plenty of time for questions and debate. However not all religious leaders believe the influence of the Da Vinci Code is a positive thing. The Right Rev Keiran Conroy, the Catholic Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, said the only serious debate he had seen about the story had been in the media and described the story as "a lot of hot air".

He admitted he had not read the book or seen the film and did not intend to, but said: "I don't think it is serious at all it is fiction.

"I've not seen or heard any serious conversation about it other than in the media.

"To be honest I'm more interested in seeing Ice Age 2."