austraLasia 816
Passionate about 'The
Passion'.
Comments from our region
SYDNEY/MANILA: 26th March '04 --
Whatever you say about it, 'The Passion of The Christ' has aroused much
interest, and not a little passion; headlines range from 'Passion actor meets
Pope' to 'Gory, Gory Hallelujah'! Meanwhile Sydney's Archbishop,
George Cardinal Pell, has urged 'that all senior students in Catholic schools be
invited to see the film, but there will be no compulsion'. Pell steps
directly into the conflict surrounding the film by telling us that '
The High priest Caiaphas and his supporters are not pleasant people, but we do
not normally stereotype and condemn a whole people because of a few villains.
This film gives anti-Semites no comfort. No one has accused the film of being
anti-Roman, although they come out worst of all. Pilate’s ineffectual attempts
to free Jesus are shown clearly and the Roman soldiers, or some of them, are
sadistic brutes, not just doing their job, but revelling in their cruelty. The
film will be popular, confronting and controversial. It is light years away from
"Jesus Christ Superstar". Nor is it sugar and spice like "Godspell" '. If
you would like to read more of his comments, then visit http://www.bosco.nsw.edu.au/Pell - Passion.pdf .
In Manila, where Catholic Bishops had the opportunity to
watch the film before its commercial release, the bishops talked about the
film, based on what they had read and seen. 'We were saying that Mel Gibson may
be the best evangelizer of our times,' Bishop Ramon Arguelles, Military
Ordinary, said. 'So far the best evangelizer of our time is Mother Teresa.
Now, they say, Gibson may beat Mother Teresa because of the millions who have
seen and will see the film in such a short time.'
Meanwhile in Rome, where the film is not due to be
commercially released until 7th April, the Legionaries of Christ (who feature
amongst the films credits and provided direct support to Gibson and other
actors), have an 'indult' for special screenings of the film with its Italian
subtitles. Amongst the first to attend these screenings was Jim Caviezel,
the actor who plays Jesus. A number of Salesians, too, (and last
night, car loads of Salesian Sisters) have taken advantage of these private
screenings.
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