Posted on 02/28/2005 1:28:36 PM PST by nickcarraway
Hollywood A-lister buys the rights to the book Stealing from Angels'
Fittingly, just ten days after the death of Sr Lucia dos Santos, the last survivor to witness the appearances of the Virgin Mary at the Portuguese town of Fatima in 1917, Mel Gibson has bought the rights to the book Stealing from Angels.
Brian Dullaghans novel tells the story of a young Irish man who escapes a dreary life in his hometown only to slip into a life of major crime in New York. Everything changes when he meets Maria and he jumps ship again, this time to Marias hometown in Italy. However, blissful happiness does not follow and when the couple are connected to the murder of Pope John Paul and the third secret of Fatima, things really implode.
Stealing from Angels is a work of fiction that tells the tale of a man who shoulders a huge secret and trusts no one.
The third prophecy
Those familiar with the three prophesies revealed by the Virgin Mary at Fatima will be aware that the first two referred to the two World Wars and the third to the long kept secret that Sr Lucia ultimately revealed that foretold the 1981 attempt on Pope John Paul IIs life.
In 2000, when the Pope visited the shrine at Fatima, Cardinal Soldano, authorised to read a statement on behalf of the pontiff, described the prophecy: "the 'bishop clothed in white' makes his way with great effort toward the cross amid the corpses of those who were martyred. He too falls to the ground, apparently dead, under a burst of gunfire." Pope John Paul II credits the Madonna of Fatima with his survival following the assassination attempt by Turkish right-winger Mehmet Ali Agca in St Peter's Square.
Stealing from Angels has received rave reviews and is very popular in America, not least, in the same vein as The Da Vinci Code, because people can indulge their desire for church conspiracy theories especially relating to the Catholic Church.
Mel Gibsons interest will again stir up the controversy. Gibson is known to practice pre-Vatican II traditional Catholicism and much was made amid The Passion furore of his fathers Vatican conspiracy theories.
But lets put this to one side. The film will not hit screens until 2006 and Gibson has proved himself an exceptional actor and director. He has also treated key figures in the Catholic hierarchy with respect and even sought their opinions ahead of the worldwide release of The Passion of The Christ.
Mel Gibson travelled to Fatima in September of 2003 to show the film to religious institutions. He visited Sr Lucias convent in Coimbra and managed to secure an agreement to show The Passion to the sisters. Later, Gibson returned to Portugal and made another secret visit to the convent to meet with Sr Lucia.
One things for sure; this film is destined to be a controversial box office blockbuster. But before the conspiracy theories get out of hand, not to mention individual reader interpretations, the author himself has the final say in an interview with The Tribune: Its a great story and that is that, said Dullaghan.
Hollywood holds its breath
ping
hmmm, I wonder if he is going reach out to the evangelical Protestants like he did with the Passion?
> "the 'bishop clothed in white' makes his way with great effort toward the cross amid the corpses of those who were martyred. He too falls to the ground, apparently dead, under a burst of gunfire."
I'm sorry, but as prophesy goes... that's kinda lame. Very vague, and not too accurate. Rather applicable to a wide range of potential scenarios.
Big Time Mysticism.......ECT.......messianics
If it's about a conspiracy to murder the Pope and the third secret at Fatima, I doubt Protestants will be interested.
What I would like to see MelGibson do is a true movie about the life and exploits of a true American heroe --
Captain America /aka Roy S.Moore,In a naiton in need of heroes I think Roy Moore fits the ticket.And I can't think of a producer/actor /director I could trust to do
an honest movie about the former Alabama Supreme Court
Chief Juctice.
I hope he does the film.
It is a great story!!!!!!!
"One things for sure; this film is destined to be a controversial box office blockbuster."
Maybe, but he just lost all of those millions of Evangelicals and Protestants who supported the Passion.
I thought Mel was working on 2 films already...one about Boadicea and the Romans...the second about the Maccabeas. Both sound great!
Why would evangelicals be interested in this film? This would really only be of interest to Catholics and curious outsiders (not saying it won't do good).
Dude, they are paraphrasing. Here is a translation of the original text from the hand of Sr. Lucia:
The third part of the secret revealed at the Cova da Iria-Fatima, on 13 July 1917.
I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine.
After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: Penance, Penance, Penance!'. And we saw in an immense light that is God: something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.
http://www.ewtn.com/fatima/apparitions/Third_Secret/Fatima.htm
Hmmmm.... any opinion on this? Smells like DaVinci Code Lite.
I think this is a great subject for a film
Bump for later
Nobody else will.
again Mad Max IV:Fury Road is pushed aside. Phooey I say, and grrrrrr.
A rhetorical question, I assume. But a good question. "The Passion" brought Catholics and evangelical Prostestants together, because it focused on the central event of Christ's life. He will lose a sizeable audience if he takes this rumored tact in his next movie.
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