English bishops issue forthright defence of Mel Gibson’s Passion

BY CHRISTINA FARRELL
THE BISHOPS of England and Wales have enthusiastically endorsed Mel Gibson’s controversial portrayal of Christ’s Passion, describing the film as a “positive and faithful account of the Gospels”.
The Passion of the Christ, which opened in America on Ash Wednesday, has already broken box-office records. The film is scheduled for a nationwide release in Britain on March 26.
In a statement, the bishops’conference said it disagreed with the charge that The Passion was anti-Semitic or gratuitously violent.
“We do not believe that the film portrays the Jewish people as collectively responsible for Christ’s death,” the statement said. “We disagree that the violence in the film is gratuitous.” The bishops’ comments were immediately condemned by the British Council of Christians and Jews, which said the film was “detrimental to improved understanding between Jews and Christians and to the vital work of reconciliation, education and dialogue”.
Jane Clements, deputy director of the council, said: “This film won’t make people anti-Semitic, but it will increase what is termed the ‘teaching of contempt’for the Jewish people.
“I am sure that many Christians, and Catholics in particular, will view this film as a spiritual experience, but I think it is unfortunate that there are aspects of it which, though subtle, will undermine relations between Christians and Jews.” Following the British press screening of the film last Thursday, the council said The Passion was guilty of reinforcing ancient Christian prejudices in the context of “intense and unremitting violence”.
It said the burden of guilt for Christ’s death was placed on the Jews and accused the director of “subtle changes, which enforced the sense of culpability of Jewish groups and leaders”.
But the bishops have disagreed. Their statement said: “The bishops’ conference believes that The Passion is a very positive and faithful account of the Gospels. We must, however, be very concerned if the Jewish community takes offence, although we do not believe that the film portrays the Jewish people as collectively responsible for Christ’s death.
“Gibson gives us what is in the Gospels. All the Gospels agree that judicial action by the Sanhedrin and the Jewish authorities instigated the events that led to the death of Christ.
“In fact, Gibson portrays dissent in the Sanhedrin, which is not in the New Testament. By doing this, he underlines the fact that Jewish people were not collectively responsible.
“The key to this is in the first few minutes. In the conversation between the devil and Christ, the devil says to Christ, ‘Do you believe one man can carry the weight of sin’ Christ answers, ‘No man can carry this burden’.” The statement noted that Gibson had deliberately omitted the words “His blood be upon us and our children” from the English subtitles, although the words remain in the Aramaic dialogue of the film.
Gibson has been accused of employing the “cheap technique of the horror movie director” in his very personalised account of the last 12 hours of Christ’s life.
The film is undeniably bloody and visceral, with an extended flagellation scene, but it has also received widespread acclaim as a deeply spiritual portrayal of the suffering of Christ. Cardinal George Pell of Sydney described the film as a “contemporary masterpiece”.
“It is not absurd to compare it with the paintings of the Italian master Caravaggio, because of its beauty and drama,” he said. “It is more genuinely spiritual, even more violent.” The bishops’ conference also defended Gibson’s artistic and spiritual motivation.
“We disagree that the violence in the film is gratuitous,” the bishops said. “We must put it within the context of our salvation history: the weight of the entire world’s evil was placed on one man, the body of Christ and He willingly took the consequences of this on himself. He bore our sin entirely.” They added that the film, in no way, challenged the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
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