“Catholics who take seriously Pope John Paul II’s commitment, made during his visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem in March 2000, ‘to genuine fellowship with the people of the Covenant’ should ask whether it is acceptable for a filmmaker-even though he repeats the teaching of the Council of Trent that Christ died for the sins of all humanity-to combine scenes from the four Gospel accounts with many unbiblical elements so that the malice of the Jewish characters is magnified. “‘The Passion of the Christ’ unquestionably fails to follow the official Catholic teaching on biblical interpretation and the presentation of Jews and Judaism…. The campaign against him has been ruthless, and that is why the Catholic League mounted a counter-offensive.Īd Hoc Committee of Catholic and Jewish ScholarsĪmerica, ApPhilip Cunningham: The following is a list of some of the more incendiary remarks made about the Mel Gibson movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” We do not maintain that it is anti-Catholic to criticize a film, even before it has been released, but we do contend that the hostility to Gibson and to his work is unseemly.

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