Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou in The Da Vinci Code. The controversy over the popular film has spilled over to a prequel film, Angels & Demons. (Columbia Pictures)

The diocese of Rome has banned filming of Dan Brown's Angels & Demons in two churches that are key to the plot of the religious thriller.

The ban became public after producer Ron Howard asked to film in the churches of Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria, which are mentioned in the book.

But the Roman Catholic diocese, which frowned on the film of Brown's The Da Vinci Code because the story contravenes church dogma, said no.

Monsignor Marco Fibbi, a spokesman for the diocese, said filming was banned because the story "does not conform to our views."

Like Brown's The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons is a religious thriller. The Da Vinci Code angered Catholics because it supposes that Jesus was married and his wife bore a child and the bloodline persists to this day.

The Vatican appointed a senior cardinal to debunk the "errors" of the book when it became a popular film.

Angels & Demons has a plot about a murderous secret society with designs to take over the papacy, using anti-matter hidden in a Roman catacomb.

"This is a prequel to The Da Vinci Code, and it's clear that the theme is similar," Fibbi said.

"It's a film that treats religious issues in a way that contrasts with common religious sentiment."

The ban will not affect filming outside the churches. The church of Santa Maria del Popolo, dating from 1099, contains paintings by Caravaggio and Raphael. Santa Maria della Vittoria, dating from the 1620s, contains a famous statue by Bernini.

Both have seen an upsurge in tourism in recent years because of Brown's books, which purport to find hidden meaning in the religious symbolism of the artworks.

Tom Hanks, who starred in The Da Vinci Code, again plays Robert Langdon, the symbologist who cracks the obscure code, in Angels & Demons.

The film is scheduled for release in May 2009.

With files from Associated Press