By ANTHONY BREZNICAN

.c The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) - In the Gospel according to Kevin Smith, the best way to preach the word of God is by satirizing, not sermonizing.

Outraged Roman Catholics have waged a holy war against the writer-director's new comedy ``Dogma,'' which opens today, because of its irreverent jabs at sacred subjects such as the Virgin Mary, the Mass and the Crucifix.

But Smith hopes the movie will be embraced by the faithful.

``This isn't for the choir. They're already in the church. This movie is chiefly for the audience that feels disenfranchised by the faith,'' said Smith, whose previous films include ``Clerks'' and ``Chasing Amy.''

``Dogma,'' Smith's first big-budget project, features an all-star cast that includes Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, George Carlin and Linda Fiorentino.

The film scatters theological discussions over the story of two rampaging angels who try to start the end of the world. The movie revels in silly, gross-out humor that Smith says breaks the ice with cynical younger audiences weary of holier-than-thou lecturing.

``I had a little fun with the church itself, but the movie's not blasphemous,'' said Smith, who is Catholic. ``There is a serious message in it that came from my own crisis of faith, a time when I was wondering, 'Should I be a Catholic?'''

One priest active in the film industry said Smith ``does ask the questions that a lot of young Catholics ask'' about the nature of God and the tenets of the church.

The Rev. Frank R. Desiderio, a religious film producer and member of Catholicism's Paulist order, characterized ``Dogma'' as ``'Dumb and Dumber' do theology.''

``It's a flawed movie, not an evil movie,'' he said. ``What Kevin Smith tried to say is that God is a loving God. I give him credit for trying to do it. ... It would probably be nice to talk about theology with him over a beer.''

The script for ``Dogma'' caused an outcry several months ago from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights that led to thousands of angry petitions from the group.

The complaints prompted the initial distributor of ``Dogma,'' Disney subsidiary Miramax Films, to wash its hands of the project.

Among other offending items, ``Dogma'' features a wisecrack about the Virgin Mary's sex life, a Catholic employee at an abortion clinic, an obscenity-spewing 13th Apostle angry over being cut from the Bible, and a creature Smith describes as ``a rubber poop monster'' summoned from hell to wreak havoc on Earth.

``This is not a light poking-of-fun at religion. This is a source of anti-Catholic bigotry,'' said league spokesman Patrick Scully. ``One of his characters says, 'You Catholics don't celebrate your faith, you mourn it.' ... Does he think the Mass should be a bunch of people with baseball caps on backward whooping it up?''

Scully dismissed the comedy's efforts to explore religious themes, characterizing the story as ``juvenile, 15-year-old humor.''

Smith said the film appeals to more open-minded Catholics by using its two gun-toting, sinner-slaying angels to satirize zealots who see violence as a path to heaven.

``A lot of (Catholics) are far more into fighting abortion and the gay community than worshipping God,'' Smith said. ``But Jesus was one of the least violent people who ever walked the Earth. The guy loved everyone.''