Read The Times review of The Golden Compass

Read Faith Central on the row

The British author Philip Pullman has attacked leading American Catholics as "nitwits" after they called for a boycott of The Golden Compass, which has its world premiere in London tonight.

In an escalation of the religious row over the film adaptation of the first of the Pullman trilogy, the north American Catholic League claimed that the movie is being used to pursue his "atheist agenda" and should be banned.

Bill Donohoe, the league's President, added that the production, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, could prompt parents to buy the books for their children unaware that the trilogy climaxes with an epic battle to "destroy God".

The film is due to be launched in the US on December 7, but the Catholic League says parents should refuse to see it. Its world premiere takes place at Leicester Square tonight.

However, Mr Pullman hit back with a furious counter-attack on his detractors, denying that his agenda was anything other than attracting readers and urging people to be allowed to make up their own mind.

"To regard it as this Donohue man has said - that I'm a militant atheist, and my intention is to convert people - how the hell does he know that?" he said, in an interview with Newsweek magazine.

"Why don't we trust readers? Why don't we trust filmgoers? Oh, it causes me to shake my head with sorrow that such nitwits could be loose in the world."

Mr Donohue's call for a boycott has already been taken up by some Catholic leaders in the US and Canada, but not so far in Britain.

A school board in Ontario has ordered Northern Lights, the book on which the film is based, to be removed from library shelves in the run-up to the film's launch. Several other Canadian school boards are reported to be considering taking the same action.

Meanwhile, the archdiocese in Philadelphia has urged parents not to take their children to the film when it is released.

Suspicions over Mr Pullman's agenda appear to have partly been prompted by his past comments on religion to American newspapers. In particular, he told the Washington Post that one of his key goals was to "undermine the basis" of Christian belief.

Despite its attempts to boycott The Golden Compass, the Catholic League has a less-than impressive track record in triggering religious boycotts. Its highest profile recent attempt was to shun The Da Vinci Code, which ended up becoming one of the most popular movies of 2006 in the US.

A spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Britain said it would not make any statement on the film until its representatives had seen it.

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