BY STAFF REPORTER

A SENIOR VATICAN official has defended Mel Gibson's film about the death of Christ amid concerns from Jewish groups that it is antiSemitic.
Archbishop John Foley, the,president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, said he hoped to show the film, The Passion, in the Vatican and doubted whether criticism of the movie was valid. "From what I could see of the trailers, it seemed to be an excellent film," the archbishop said.
"I don't think they would he well-founded criticisms because all the material in the film comes directly from the Gospel accounts.
-There's nothing in the film that doesn't come from the Gospel accounts. So, if they're critical of the film, they would be critical of the Gospel. It-was very faithful to the Gospel."
Archbishop Foley. who met Gibson in Washington last month, said he had not seen the entire film, but said: "In what I saw there was nothing objectionable".
Gibson, who won an Oscar for directing Braveheart, spent about £18 million on the movie, which is expected to be released in Lent next year.