The Pope has seen a rough cut of “The Passion of the Christ,” Mel Gibson’s controversial new film about Jesus’ torturous last 12 hours, a source familiar with the screening told the New York Daily News.
There’s no official word on what he thought about the film, which has been slammed as anti-Semitic, but some in John Paul’s inner circle already have given it two holy thumbs up.
“The Pope definitely saw the film” within the last week, said the source.
Several other top Vatican officials saw the two-hour flick, which uses subtitles to translate dialogue from Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic, in the weeks before the Pope did.
The Rev. Augustine Di Noia, one of the officials who saw it last week, said, “There is absolutely nothing anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish about Mel Gibson’s film.” And Msgr. Kevin McCoy, who saw it twice, called it “a very powerful film.”
The film has prompted criticism from Jewish groups who say that because it portrays Jews as responsible for Jesus’ Crucifixion, it will fuel anti-Semitism.
Tuesday, Ken Jacobson, associate director of the Anti-Defamation League, said his organization, which fights anti-Semitism, should have a chance to see the film, too.
He pointed out that after the ADL criticized parts of the film’s original script, the group began receiving hate mail.
“If this is what is happening before the film ever appears, there is hate out there,” he said.
This week, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, D-Brooklyn, pointed out a posting on a Yahoo! Movies message board for “Passion” from a man who wrote, “I feel like killing some Jews.”
Yahoo! officials removed the posting Tuesday after it was pointed out by The News, saying threatening and hateful messages are a violation of their terms of service.
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AP-NY-12-17-03 1417EST
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