[ultima ratio]

Brilliant piece.

[Siobhan]

In this public forum I confuss that I was wrong about you, ultima forum, that I uttered false and evil accusations against you in time past, and I beg and entreat you for your forgiveness for the love of our Divine Saviour Jesus Christ.

Of necessity I will continue to oppose your ideas when you must argue against the Holy Father John Paul II, but never again will I ever doubt that you are a Christian soul of good intention. It is a great grief to me that I have impugned and maligned you before, and I do beg your forgvieness.

[walden]

Absolutely-- thank you for posting it.

I saw the movie this morning, and I'm still in a daze. It is a powerful testament, a true masterpiece.

[Land of the Irish]

Excellent article.

Thank-you for posting it.

[Snuffington]

Excellent article. Painfully true in places. And worth pondering.

[StAthanasiustheGreat]

A few bishops and cardinals were relatively excited about the release of this film. Castrillion Hoyos, Congergation of the Clergy, said he wanted all priests to see this film. I think Bishop Chaput in Denver and Bishop Dolan in Milwaukee were also pretty excited about the movie. Though I do agree with you, not enough bishops and priests were properly motivated for this film, the teaching moment it allows.

[Maximilian]

Great article by a writer for a daily secular newspaper who really gets it. Unlike the clueless idiots running the church such as our local diocesan rag that ran 3 articles this week warning people away from the movie. They also repeated the lie of the bishop of San Jose that the Gospels are not historical records.

This writer makes such a number of good points and has such a way with words, but here are a few highlights:

Rabbi Lapin’s moral integrity and plain speaking have done more for Christian-Jewish relations than a thousand futile ecumenical symposia and weasel-worded scriptural trade-offs brokered by pressure groups and Vatican appeaseniks.

Yes! one Rabbi Lapin makes up for a number of Eisners and Katzenbergs and Harvey Weinsteins, and for a number of Cardinal Kaspers and Keelers as well.

For, make no mistake, this is an intensely Catholic film. Mel Gibson is a traditional Catholic who rejects the humbug and chaos of the Second Vatican Catastrophe - as do an increasing number of the disillusioned survivors stumbling around in the ruins of the once-mighty Roman Catholic Church.

What a great phrase, one that will have to enter my lexicon -- Second Vatican Catastrophe. Let's not pussyfoot around with obfuscation about the "spirit" of the "implementation." Vatican II was a catastrophe starting with the opening speech of Pope John XXIII which won him Time magazine Man of the Year.

"the Easter People, the dancers in sanctuaries, those who claim They Are Church and all the assorted Lollards and Fifth Monarchy Men who have converted Catholicism into a crankfest" and "Of course, we need some ritual and collective spirituality: so, let’s go and hang some cuddly toys on the railings of Kensington Palace."

Anyone still participating in the "one-size-fits-all, syncretic religion," take a look in the mirror.

[Maximilian]

Ping for a really outstanding article. This guy has a way with words, and he has some insightful points to make with those words.

[Maximilian]

Ping for a really outstanding article. This guy has a way with words, and he has some insightful points to make with those words.

[livius]

the actors’ performances, quality of direction, photography and all the other elements by which a film is normally assessed. The need to suspend judgment on such technicalities,

Actually, you don't even have to suspend judgment on these matters. This is probably the greatest piece of religious art produced in the last couple of hundred years.

The thing that truly amazed me when I saw the movie last night was not only the impact of the religious message, but the fact that I was actually seeing genuine art. It's like seeing Velazquez, El Greco, Murillo, etc. all rolled up into one, with touches of Breughel and Goya in the crowd scenes, and all of it brought to life.

The music was also stunning, and, in fact, I have already bought the CD (although I'm not exactly sure what would make a suitable situation for listening to it).

[AgThorn]

Excellent piece .... I do take a position on this paragraph though:

Religion should be nice. It should have no doctrines, since that would create division. There are no moral absolutes, no objective truths. In an ideal world, you should not be able to put a cigarette-paper between a Catholic and a Buddhist. Since we are all going to Heaven, regardless of our conduct on earth, what is the point of all this violence on Calvary? Of course, we need some ritual and collective spirituality: so, let’s go and hang some cuddly toys on the railings of Kensington Palace. What we need is a one-size-fits-all, syncretic religion, centred on the United Nations; an ethical code that does not restrict us from the perpetual gratification of all appetites.

He wrote this after talking negatively about the RCC after Vatican II. I would say that all of the above negatives are NOT part of Vatican II, but rather the current Pope and his reaching out to every faith in the world and pretending we are "all going to heaven" ... I don't recall that ever being the message of Vatican II.

[independentmind]

Fabulous. Thanks for posting it.

[Unam Sanctam]

Pity no Catholic bishop has gone on record in equally enthusiastic vein. <>/i>

Several bishops have spoken in favor of the movie, as mentioned above (and I would add Cardinal Pell of Sydney to the list). Once again, I see you are trying to use this move to trash the legitimate authorities of the Church and to tar everyone in the hierarchy with the same brush.

[Desdemona]

I just saw this film this evening and confess I couldn't watch certain parts, although I heard them.

If one truly believes, there is nothing to be afraid of in this film. Finally, someone in the medium took a serious stab (no pun intended) at this subject and make it work to the point where you sit in that theater and wonder how any parent could watch their child endure that. It was literally like being a spectator.

BTW, my bishop was very much looking forward to seeing this film. He is a very sincere and good man. Very orthodox, too.

[Unam Sanctam]

By the way, I heard two separate what you would call "Novus Ordo priests" of the new "Post-Vatican II Church", which of course is a new religion, recommended seeing the Passion, so you can take your Catholic Church bashing and shove it.

[Land of the Irish]

ECCE homo

Ecce Agnus Dei: ecce qui tollit peccata mundi.

[Cold Heat]

Yes it is, and fills in some blanks that I had about the Catholic Church.

I have heard this said before.

Don't get me wrong, it is happening in all the big ones.

[polemikos]

ecumaniac

LOL

[polemikos]

At the elevation of the host, the Catholic believer knows - although he can scarcely comprehend the fact - that he is as close to Christ as were Our Lady and St John at the foot of the cross.

[rcath60]

WOW!

[sfRummygirl]

"Religion should be nice. It should have no doctrines, since that would create division. There are no moral absolutes, no objective truths. In an ideal world, you should not be able to put a
cigarette-paper between a Catholic and a Buddhist. Since we are all going to Heaven, regardless of our conduct on earth, what is the point of all this violence on Calvary? Of course, we need
some ritual and collective spirituality: so, let’s go and hang some cuddly toys on the railings of Kensington Palace. What we need is a one-size-fits-all, syncretic religion, centred on the United
Nations; an ethical code that does not restrict us from the perpetual gratification of all appetites."

YES! LOVE it. I am so sick of hearing people say that Christians should adopt this way of thinking. And I'm sorry to say, that goes for Savage and Glenn Beck. Did anyone catch Beck's friday show, where he thought it was gross for people to wear crosses and crucifixes? I'm paraphrasing, gross wasn't his exact word. He was originally saying that the nails people were buying were ridiculous. (I actually don't feel like wearing a nail around my neck, but I will tell you this, I think I'm going to get one to keep with me. I will look at it when I get wrapped up in my own day, and start ignoring the Holy Spirit again....) But then he lumped in people wearing crosses into that. He's Mormon, by the way.

Why does everyone feel they have to tell us what our religion is, and how it should be?