Courtesy Yahoo News Dogma, the religious-minded comedy with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck that has sparked its own Holy War with conservative Catholics, will hit theaters this fall, per a distribution deal struck Wednesday with the Canadian indepedent behind American Psycho.

And so ends months of homelessness for the Kevin Smith (Clerks) satire, removed from Miramax Films' roster in April when owners Bob and Harvey Weinstein decided the movie would draw too much heat for parent company Disney. The Weinsteins ended up personally buying the film for a reputed $10 million, with plans to find a distributor. Enter Lions Gate Film.

"What else can I say except that I'm ecstatic," Smith said in a statement. "...I give these guys props for standing behind our flick and giving audiences a chance to see a pretty funny pro-faith film."

Lions Gate, home to 1998 art-house hits Gods and Monsters and Affliction and next year's already under-fire American Psycho, says it plans a wide release for Dogma. No word yet on the exact opening date.

"We are very excited to have acquired a film with so much potential to succeed on a big scale, both artistically and commercially," Lions Gate Films president Jeff Sackman said.

The company has been pursuing Dogma since the comedy about firearm-toting avenging angels (Damon and Affleck) premiered last May at the Cannes International Film Festival.

While critics who've seen the movie generally have been kind ("as smart and articulate as it is wildy irreverent," The New York Times ruled), a conservative Catholic group that has read the script (but not yet screened the movie) has been specifcally harsh.

The New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights accuses Dogma of religious bigotry. And based on the trailer, Catholic League president William A. Donohue also brands the film "dumb."

"I think it's going to bomb on the face of its own merits," Donohue said today.

Indeed, Donohue sounded downright nonplussed by the Lions Gate deal. He says his organization does not plan to "dilute" its effort by taking on the distributor. Instead, it has purchased a full-page ad in Sunday's New York Times taking on more perennial foes--the Weinsteins and Kevin Smith.

Donohue says the ad accuses the three, plus an attorney, of trying to "muzzle" the Catholic League with statements that they'll hold the group responsible if the film opens to violent protest.