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Pope Mum But Other Catholic Officials like "Passion"
Aired February 25, 2004 - 11:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: The masses had the chance to see Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ" today, but Pope John Paul II had a private screening several months ago.
Our Alessio Vinci is at the Vatican this morning with more on that.
Alessio, hello.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Daryn.
Well, Vatican officials are a little bit surprised at the controversy that the movie is generating in the U.S. Some even joked, telling us, "After all this say story that is almost 2,000 years old and there's no real suspense about how it's going to end."
Nevertheless, willing or not, the Vatican is being drawn into the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VINCI (voice-over): Yes, Pope John Paul II did have a chance to see Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." And what is his view of the movie? The official word from the Vatican, the pope does not make public judgment on artistic work.
But off the record, most Vatican officials say the pope did not reject or dislike the movie. And a few church officials who did see the final version are enthusiastic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a work of art. High, high, high production values.
VINCI: Vatican officials reject criticism that the movie deviates from the gospels and promotes anti-Semitism, by spotlighting Jews as being responsible for the death of Jesus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gospels do not set out to portray the Jews as particularly any more guilty than anybody else. I mean, see, to me, if you ask someone who knew nothing about this story, and who saw the film when they emerged from it, who was responsible for Christ's death, I think they would say, well, they all are.
VINCI: Since the second Vatican counsel, the Catholic Church's position is the Jews are not to blame for the death of Jesus. Top Vatican officials say the movie is an opportunity to reaffirm that. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reviews (ph) of the film would be a good chance to reaffirm the teaching of our Catholic Church regarding Judaism.
VINCI: Add to that, Vatican officials say the emphasis of the movie is not about who killed Jesus and why, but rather about his suffering and the ability of director Gibson to convey it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when you see the film, you will want to avert your gaze. You will not want to look at what happens, you know, between the -- Caveizel in Gethsemane, very handsome, beautiful, you know, actor, to the ruination of his body, and in the end, by the common crucifixion. You will say, I don't want to look at this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VINCI: And that is what many Vatican officials expect may happen here, once the movie releases in Italy as well on April 7.
After all, if you walk in any church here and you look at a crucifix, the only evidence of Jesus' suffering -- suffering if you want, are the stigmata, perhaps the expression of his face. And in this movie, really, the face of Jesus is very much portrayed in a very different way.
Back to you, Daryn.
KAGAN: Alessio, another claim of Mel Gibson is that this movie is historically accurate. But what does the Vatican feel about how the movie is faithful to the gospels?
VINCI: Well, that is a question the Vatican officials say is very complicated to answer. Because of course, first all, as you know there are four different gospels.
And in the gospels themselves, the actual passion is only described in only a few paragraphs. There aren't that many details about the movie (sic).
So any movie that is two hours long or more certainly will include some artistic interpretations of what the director or the writer or the screenwriter has.
And so, therefore, Vatican officials saying this movie is pretty close to the gospel. Its main point, the fact that Jesus was arrested, was tried, was crucified, and then they agree that everything else that goes with it is an artistic interpretation of Mel Gibson.
And that's as far as they're really going to go as to how really faithful to the gospel the movie is.
KAGAN: Alessio Vinci at the Vatican. Alessio, thank you for that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 25, 2004 - 11:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: The masses had the chance to see Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ" today, but Pope John Paul II had a private screening several months ago.
Our Alessio Vinci is at the Vatican this morning with more on that.
Alessio, hello.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Daryn.
Well, Vatican officials are a little bit surprised at the controversy that the movie is generating in the U.S. Some even joked, telling us, "After all this say story that is almost 2,000 years old and there's no real suspense about how it's going to end."
Nevertheless, willing or not, the Vatican is being drawn into the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VINCI (voice-over): Yes, Pope John Paul II did have a chance to see Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." And what is his view of the movie? The official word from the Vatican, the pope does not make public judgment on artistic work.
But off the record, most Vatican officials say the pope did not reject or dislike the movie. And a few church officials who did see the final version are enthusiastic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a work of art. High, high, high production values.
VINCI: Vatican officials reject criticism that the movie deviates from the gospels and promotes anti-Semitism, by spotlighting Jews as being responsible for the death of Jesus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gospels do not set out to portray the Jews as particularly any more guilty than anybody else. I mean, see, to me, if you ask someone who knew nothing about this story, and who saw the film when they emerged from it, who was responsible for Christ's death, I think they would say, well, they all are.
VINCI: Since the second Vatican counsel, the Catholic Church's position is the Jews are not to blame for the death of Jesus. Top Vatican officials say the movie is an opportunity to reaffirm that. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reviews (ph) of the film would be a good chance to reaffirm the teaching of our Catholic Church regarding Judaism.
VINCI: Add to that, Vatican officials say the emphasis of the movie is not about who killed Jesus and why, but rather about his suffering and the ability of director Gibson to convey it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when you see the film, you will want to avert your gaze. You will not want to look at what happens, you know, between the -- Caveizel in Gethsemane, very handsome, beautiful, you know, actor, to the ruination of his body, and in the end, by the common crucifixion. You will say, I don't want to look at this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VINCI: And that is what many Vatican officials expect may happen here, once the movie releases in Italy as well on April 7.
After all, if you walk in any church here and you look at a crucifix, the only evidence of Jesus' suffering -- suffering if you want, are the stigmata, perhaps the expression of his face. And in this movie, really, the face of Jesus is very much portrayed in a very different way.
Back to you, Daryn.
KAGAN: Alessio, another claim of Mel Gibson is that this movie is historically accurate. But what does the Vatican feel about how the movie is faithful to the gospels?
VINCI: Well, that is a question the Vatican officials say is very complicated to answer. Because of course, first all, as you know there are four different gospels.
And in the gospels themselves, the actual passion is only described in only a few paragraphs. There aren't that many details about the movie (sic).
So any movie that is two hours long or more certainly will include some artistic interpretations of what the director or the writer or the screenwriter has.
And so, therefore, Vatican officials saying this movie is pretty close to the gospel. Its main point, the fact that Jesus was arrested, was tried, was crucified, and then they agree that everything else that goes with it is an artistic interpretation of Mel Gibson.
And that's as far as they're really going to go as to how really faithful to the gospel the movie is.
KAGAN: Alessio Vinci at the Vatican. Alessio, thank you for that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
