The Vatican condemns 'The Golden Compass'

Catholic Church officials at The Vatican have condemned Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig's new family film 'The Golden Compass', stating the movie is anti-Christian.

The religious leaders claim the movie, based on atheist author Philip Pullman's fantasy book 'Northern Lights', promotes a cold and hopeless world without God.

In an article in The Vatican's newspaper l'Osservatore Romano, Pullman is also heavily criticised for writing the book.

Catholic leaders urged the faithful to boycott the movie when it was released earlier this month.

'The Golden Compass' director Chris Weitz stripped all references to the Church from the movie, fearing he'd offend religious film fans. But it seems his efforts weren't enough.

In Pullman's fantasy world, the Church's governing body is linked to cruel experiments on children.

In The Vatican newspaper editorial, the film is dubbed "the most anti-Christmas film possible".