Im no catholic apologist, but Mel the Catholic, made and financed a movie about the topic, and it has a Catholic viewpoint? Shocking!
What has diverged, the movie or the “rich history of the Church.”
Just not clear what you meant to say, so thanks in advance.
Are you speaking of the Church or the movie?
It took inspiration from artistic license but nothing in it “diverged” from Scripture. That implies it was contrary to the Word in some way it wasn’t.
With that said, to avoid the bru-ha-ha that needlessly detracted from the beauty and artistry of the Passion, largely centered around such similar criticism (that it “wasn’t based on Scripture” and similar criticism) I too would like to see it stick to “just the Bible”. There’s plenty of fantastic imagery in Scripture especially post Ressurection that would have all the CGI lovers fawning for a spot in production. (The appearance of Him in the upper room for example, not to mention the Ascension)
Hopefully just sticking to Scripture will finally have all Christians loving a film about Jesus.
And have Jim Caviezel play Him again, for consistency at least if not for the acting ability he showed in the Passion.