The Church of England has said it is "bewildered" by the refusal of the country's biggest cinema chains to screen a 60-second advert featuring the Lord's Prayer.
The church produced the ad and planned for it to be shown in cinemas from 18 December before Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is tipped to smash box office records.
The short film features Christians from all walks of life - including the Archbishop of Canterbury, weightlifters, a police officer, a commuter, refugees, schoolchildren and a festival-goer - praying one line each of the Lord's Prayer.
The clip was cleared by both the UK's Cinema Advertising Authority and the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) - but the UK's three largest cinema chains have refused to screen it, the Church said.
You can see the ad below:
The church said Odeon, Cineworld and Vue - which control 80% of British cinema screens - have refused to show the ad because they believe it "carries the risk of upsetting, or offending, audiences".
The church's communications director the Reverend Arun Arora said: "The prospect of a multi-generational cultural event offered by the release of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' on 18 December - a week before Christmas Day - was too good an opportunity to miss and we are bewildered by the decision of the cinemas.
"The Lord's Prayer is prayed by billions of people across the globe every day and in this country has been part of everyday life for centuries.
"In one way the decision of the cinemas is just plain silly but the fact that they have insisted upon it makes it rather chilling in terms of limiting free speech. There is still time for the cinemas to change their mind and we would certainly welcome that.
"In the meantime people should visit the site, see the film themselves and make up their own minds as to whether they are upset or offended by it."
The advert is part of a campaign to promote justpray.uk, a website "to promote the renewal of prayer in a digital age".
Advertising for the major cinema chains is handled by the Digital Cinema Media agency, which reportedly said it had a policy of not accepting political or religious advertising content in its cinemas.
