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Will a recut Passion still stir debate? Film rereleased minus 6 minutes of worst gore Last year's success of The Passion of the Christ foretold the red state-blue state electoral vote divide as the nation's culture wars played out at the box office. Many movie goers described it as a sacred experience, but to others it was nothing more than a graceless horror flick. So it should come as no surprise that today's rerelease — now billed as The Passion Recut, minus about six minutes of the goriest scenes but still too intense to qualify for a PG-13 rating —...

Ten months after Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" reached blockbuster status, an interfaith group of Catholics and Jews is still finding fault with the film, calling it a "notorious" reminder of Europe's anti-Semitic past.     The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the U.S. Catholic-Jewish Consultation Committee recently called the film a "modern version of the notorious medieval Passion Plays which so often over the centuries have triggered riots against the Jews of Europe." [snip]"The Passion" is now angling for a place in the Oscar Award lineup for best picture, director, actor and cinematography, and is among...

ASHLAND, Ore. – Whooping and hollering greeted Michael Moore's statement that his virulently anti-Bush film "Fahrenheit 9/11" beat out Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." "I think Jesus had something to do with that," said Moore during Monday's meeting at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Ore., part of a national event sponsored by MoveOn.org. Comparing the initial attendance stats for the two films – and accentuating the one or two measures by which, says Moore, "Fahrenheit" edged out "Passion" – Moore boasted: "I've been feeling for a month He's been very upset at the [selling of] that movie. So...

RICHMOND -- Detectives say the death of a 19-year-old woman originally ruled a suicide has turned into a murder case after a repentant man who'd watched The Passion of the Christ confessed to killing her because she was carrying his child. Fort Bend County Sheriff's Detective Mike Kubricht said today that investigators thought Ashley Nicole Wilson had hanged herself in January. Earlier this month, however, 21-year-old Dan R. Leach of Rosenberg turned himself in after watching Mel Gibson's controversial movie about the last hours of Christ's life and Leach decided to seek redemption, Kubricht said. The young woman's body was found by her mother Jan. 19...

The Gospel of Mel Gibson Sunday, March 14, 2004 By MIKE KELLY RECORD COLUMNISTNO MATTER whether you think he is the Son of God or not, there can be no denying that Jesus of Nazareth is one of history's most compelling personalities. Too bad Mel Gibson missed this.With his movie, "The Passion of the Christ," Gibson has committed Hollywood's most unforgivable sin. He made a boring movie.I know what you are thinking: You've seen this film and you were transfixed. But what really got your attention?Was it the 11 minutes of blood-spattered scourging of Jesus by Roman soldiers? Was it...

NOTES ON THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST SYMBOLISM These are personal notes from a group discussion with a priest called Fr. Sean of the Legionaries of Christ. The discussion took place on Friday, February 27, 2004 at the St. Joseph Center in Alhambra. Fr. Sean said he has seen the movie 6 times and that his order had a priest on the set every day that Mel Gibson was shooting the movie. Because of this, he was privy to much information about the symbolism throughout the picture. Please forgive me if the notes seem to ramble. They are merely...

(London)-In his homily yesterday during a memorial service for Palestinian suicide bombers, the Right Reverend Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, denounced Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ" as being "overtly pro-Christian." "This film is going to have a devastating effect on Anglicanism worldwide," said Reverend Williams. "Impressionable persons may be unduly influenced and actually begin attending church. And it would be a great tragedy if the Church had to divert its precious resources away from protesting against capitalism and democracy and use them instead for religious purposes." The Archbishop became angry at this point and interjected," I...

Why has a reverent movie about Jesus Christ become one of the most controversial films in history? But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. — Isaiah 53:5 Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ begins with a black screen and the above-quoted passage of Holy Scripture from the prophet Isaiah. It ends with a scene of the resurrected Jesus Christ stepping from the tomb. In the two hours of film that run between those two bookends, writer-director-producer Mel...

Did anyone just see the Saturday Night Live cartoon ragging on The Passion of the Christ? They had it as "The Passion of the Dumpty" as in Humpty Dumpty. Showing a fried egg as the last supper and going to heaven and making fun of the imgage of Christ dying on the cross. I have never felt more insulted than I do right now as a Catholic. Plus they had Bush smear commercials in between the skits and painted Mel Gibson to be insane.

This year in many of our Catholic and Protestant churches, we have both the gospel of Luke and - unfortunately - Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" as part of our Lenten and Holy Week journey with Jesus through his arrival in Jerusalem, his arrest, trial, crucifixion and the empty tomb and Resurrection. Luke wrote his gospel account around 85 CE - some 55 years after the death of Jesus and 15 years after the destruction of the Jewish Temple and much of the rest of Jerusalem by the Roman army, and after the subsequent dispersal or diaspora of...

'Passion' shakes North Jersey clergy to the core Sunday, February 29, 2004 By JOHN CHADWICK and BRIAN KLADKOSTAFF WRITERS One Catholic priest in Morris County was so appalled by Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ'' that he described the film as "religious barbarism.''But a Protestant minister in Harrington Park was so moved that afterward he drove to a park, where he prayed and sat silently for almost an hour.Meanwhile, a rabbi from River Edge said the movie could bring Jews and Christians closer, despite the film's insistence that it was the Jews who pushed for the execution of...

Part I- Amos 5 20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light- pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness? Amos 8 9 "In that day," declares the Sovereign LORD , "I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your religious feasts into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day. 11 "The days are...

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST.. (A HIT OR A MISS?).. Live thread!Contrary to popular media pronouncements, the first of the commercial showing of this long awaited, landmark, and controversial film has already debuted and the misconceptions that the fate of this endeavor hangs in the balance.. That is HOGWASH.. The Passion of the Christ is on the brink of a record breaking opening, in spite of the limited available screens, and the all out, and outragous efforts on the part of the National Media's near unanimous rejection, and the Hollywood establishment roadblocks to stymie this motion picture and it's brilliant...

The Latest on The Passion of the Christ by Catholic.net February 05, 2004 / The Passion of the Christ will premiere on 2,000 screens in the United States on Feb. 25—Ash Wednesday—from Mel Gibson´s Icon Productions, partnered with Newmarket Films. For Advanced and Group ticket sales call 1-888-269-8460. Please make sure to see it by SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28th. When you go to a movie opening weekend, it´s as if you´re casting a vote for that movie. And the ballot box closes on Saturday night. If you wait a week or two to avoid lines, you are throwing away your...

POPE-PASSION Jan-19-2004 (360 words) xxxiPope never commented on Gibson's 'Passion' film, says papal secretary By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II never said "It is as it was" after watching Mel Gibson's film on the passion of Jesus, said the pope's longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz. "The Holy Father told no one his opinion of this film," the archbishop told Catholic News Service Jan. 18. Archbishop Dziwisz watched the film in the pope's apartment with Pope John Paul and with the pope's second secretary in early December. The film, "The Passion...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Bishops and cardinals waiting for a special Vatican (news - web sites) screening of a controversial Mel Gibson (news) film about Jesus Christ are going to have to wait a little longer, the Hollywood star has told them. Reuters Photo The select audience were hoping to have a private screening of "The Passion of Christ" on Tuesday evening as part of a convention on spirituality in film. But Gibson's Icon Production company told organizers in an email on Monday night that the actor-director was still working on the final version and asked them to wait because...