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Passion causes concern
18/03/2004 12:02 - (SA)
Frankfurt, Germany - Jewish leaders in Germany condemned Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of Christ on Wednesday, a day ahead of its opening in theatres here, and warned against allowing it to be used to whip up anti-Semitism.
"The film contains pictures that are historically associated with anti-Semitism," said Charlotte Knobloch, vice president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, in a statement.
"The suggestive power of the most primitive emotions will give a further push to the current resurgence of anti-Semitism."
The movie has been a huge box office success in the United States and has stirred up controversy for months, with some arguing that it portrays Jews as being behind the crucifixion of Jesus.
Gibson has said that the film is meant to show the sacrifices that Jesus Christ made for humanity, and has rejected accusations of anti-Semitism.
Germany's council of Catholic Bishops has called for discussions surrounding the film, and warned against allowing its "drastic portrayal of the horrors" of Christ's death to be used to encourage anti-Semitism.
"The Gospel of Jesus Christ's suffering, death and rising is to be celebrated as a message of deliverance and not to be blamed on specific groups," the council said in a statement last week.
"We strongly warn against using Jesus' suffering for anti-Semitic reasons."
The head of Germany's Lutheran church called the film "problematic" for its brutality and lack of context leading up to the death of Christ, but declined to comment on whether he viewed it as anti-Semitic or not.
Catholic and Lutheran churches in several of Germany's main cities were organising discussions with pastors and Biblical scholars around Thursday's opening of the film, which has been restricted to viewers aged 16 and older.
- AP
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South Africa
