Washington (ANI): American filmmaker Ron Howard has slammed a member of the Catholic League for trying to show him as an anti-Catholic because of the movie Angels and Demons that he directed.

William Donohue, the author of a small pamphlet called “Angels and Demons: More Demonic Than Angelic", had condemned the film for failing to hide an “animus against all things Catholic." Howard, 55, retaliated by writing in a blog for the Huffington Post that he has great respect “for the Catholics and their church."

“Let me be clear. Neither I nor Angels & Demons are anti-Catholic," Fox News quoted him as writing. “And let me be a little controversial: I believe Catholics, including most in the hierarchy of the Church, will enjoy the movie for what it is: an exciting mystery, set in the awe-inspiring beauty of Rome," he wrote.

He went on to say that the film, in reality, “treats the Church with respect — even a degree of reverence — for its traditions and beliefs", and he further dismissed Donahue"s claims as “silly" lies. “I guess Mr. Donohue and I do have one thing in common: we both like to create fictional tales, as he has done with his silly and mean-spirited work of propaganda," he stated.