Posted on 12/09/2003 10:15:41 PM PST by JohnHuang2
Vatican officials praise
Gibson's 'Passion'
Insist controversial film on Christ's death accurate, not anti-Semitic
Posted: December 10, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.comHigh-ranking Vatican officials who screened Mel Gibson's controversial film "The Passion of the Christ" this past weekend came away impressed, insisting it is theologically accurate and not anti-Semitic as its critics contend.
Unanimous appreciation and approval of the film, which depicts the last 12 hours of the life of Christ, was expressed by members of the Vatican Secretariat of State, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the group that oversees Catholic doctrinal issues, reported the Catholic news service Zenit.
Dominican Father Augustine Di Noia, undersecretary of the doctrinal congregation, told Zenit, "Seeing this film will be an intensely religious experience for many people. It was for me."
Di Noia taught theology in Washington, D.C., for 20 years, and served for seven years as the theologian for the U.S. bishops' conference before coming to work for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the Vatican about one year ago.
Some Jewish leaders, such as Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, assert the film "unambiguously portrays Jewish authorities and the Jewish mob as the ones responsible for the decision to crucify Jesus."
"We are deeply concerned that the film, if released in its present form, will fuel the hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism that many responsible churches have worked hard to repudiate," said Foxman, who broke a media confidentiality agreement after being allowed to screen the film in October.
Gibson sources told WorldNetDaily Icon Productions, the director's privately owned production company, is planning a release timed with Ash Wednesday, which next year falls on Feb. 25. Earlier reports had Gibson considering a release tied to Easter, April 11.
Di Noia responded to the anti-Semitism charge in an interview with Zenit, stating, "There is absolutely nothing anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish about Mel Gibson's film."
"Speaking as a Catholic theologian, I would be bound to condemn anti-Semitism or anti-Judaism in any recounting of the passion and death of Christ – and not just because of the terrible harm that has been done to Jewish people on these grounds, but also because … this represents a profound misreading of the passion narratives," he said.
Di Noia said he's convinced "once the film is released and people get a chance to see it, the charge of anti-Semitism will simply evaporate."
"The film neither exaggerates nor downplays the role of Jewish authorities and legal proceedings in the condemnation of Jesus," he said. "But precisely because it presents a comprehensive account of what might be called the 'calculus of blame' in the passion and death of Christ, the film would be more likely to quell anti-Semitism in its audiences than to excite it."
From a theological perspective, he explained, the film depicts the story's essential Jewish context, showing "Christ's experiences in the journey from Gethsemane to Golgotha, and beyond, would be completely unintelligible apart from God's covenant with Israel."
"The conceptual framework is set almost entirely by the history and literature, the prophets and heroes, the stories and legends, the symbols, rites, and observances, and ultimately the entire culture of Judaism," he said.
Di Noia commended Gibson for "profound spiritual insight into the theological meaning of the passion and death of Christ."
"Anyone seeing this film – believer and unbeliever alike – will be forced to confront the central mystery of Christ's passion, indeed of Christianity itself: If this is the remedy, what must the harm have been?"
The film powerfully communicates the "cosmic drama of which we are all a part," he said.
"There is no possibility of neutrality here, and no one can remain simply an onlooker in these events," said Di Noia. "The stakes are very high indeed – something that, apart from Christ himself, is most clearly intuited only by his mother Mary and by the ever-present devil."
Di Noia says "The Passion" properly places the blame for Christ's death on everyone. Looking at the film strictly from a dramatic view, he says, "each of the main characters contributes in some way to Jesus' fate: Judas betrays him; the Sanhedrin accuses him; the disciples abandon him; Peter denies knowing him; Herod toys with him; Pilate allows him to be condemned; the crowd mocks him; the Roman soldiers scourge, brutalize and finally crucify him; and the devil, somehow, is behind the whole action."
Di Noia said, "It is always a serious misreading of the Passion stories in the Gospel either to try to assign blame to one character or group in the story, or, more fatefully, to try to exempt oneself from blame. The trouble with this last move is that, if I am not one of the blameworthy, then how can I be among those who share in the benefits of the cross?"
Renowned Protestant evangelist Billy Graham has screened the film and says the movie moved him "to tears."
"I have often wondered what it must have been like to be a bystander during those last hours before Jesus' death," Graham said in a statement released from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. "After watching 'The Passion of the Christ,' I feel as if I have actually been there. I was moved to tears. I doubt if there has ever been a more graphic and moving presentation of Jesus' death and resurrection – which Christians believe are the most important events in human history.
"The film is faithful to the Bible's teaching that we are all responsible for Jesus' death, because we have all sinned," Graham continued. "It is our sins that caused His death, not any particular group. No one who views this film's compelling imagery will ever be the same."
Gibson has signed a deal with Newmarket to handle U.S. distribution for the film while his Icon Productions will retain all rights.
Gibson has so far invested $25 million on the film. With dialogue in Latin and Aramaic, the movie will be subtitled. Original plans called for no subtitles.
Translated: We are concerned that once this film is released, people will know the truth about the death of Christ and take it out on all jews, even though we weren't alive back then. We have worked so hard to portray history as fluid, living and subject to interpretation and this film will wreck all the we have done in that regard.
Though I don't agree with Mr. Foxman, I can understand his concerns
History shows that the Jews were blamed for many things, the death of Jesus being one of them
I don't know what you were taught in catholic school, but I was taught that the jewish people (of that time) did have a say in whether Christ lived or died
Now that does that mean we should hate Jews .. Of course not
Jesus was a jew, so to hate them would also mean to hate Jesus .. and were I come from .. that is a big no no
Food for thought, and meditation.
It wasn't taught as an angle .. it's just part of the story of Jesus
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