Thumbs-up for Mel Gibson

2003-09-19 07:51

Vatican City - Mel Gibson's film The Passion has won another Vatican endorsement, with a top cardinal rejecting suggestions the movie may offend Jewish sensibilities and promote anti-Semitism.

"Anti-Semitism, like all forms of racism, distorts the truth by putting an entire race in a bad light. This film does nothing of the kind," Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos said in Thursday's La Stampa newspaper.

Many conservative Christians say the upcoming film powerfully depicts the last 12 hours of Jesus' life. But Jewish leaders say it suggests Jews were responsible for the death of Christ, which could trigger anti-Semitic attacks.

The Roman Catholic Church formally rejected Jewish culpability in Christ's death nearly 40 years ago.

Hoyos, a Colombian, is prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and heads a Vatican commission that's trying to bring ultra-conservatives back to the church. Gibson is a member of an ultra-conservative Catholic movement.

Gibson, who directed and co-wrote the film, has defended it as faithful to the Gospels and said it's intended to "inspire, not offend".

The cardinal told La Stampa he saw an unfinished version of the film that Gibson brought to Rome recently.

"I felt moments of deep spiritual intimacy with Jesus Christ," Hoyos said.

- AP