I was with a priest — an old pal from the Irish Pontifical College — along with an American priest scholar who teaches at the Angelicum College. I updated them on issues such as American football and the Iraq war, while they filled me in about the current state of internal Vatican politics, a topic that I found far more interesting and fun than U.S. politics while serving as U.S. ambassador.
My priest scholar friend went on to tell me that a group of his colleagues had several discussions about Mel Gibson’s movie, while it was being produced in Italy. When I heard the objectives in making such a movie, I said I was eagerly anticipating the film’s February 2004 opening. My friend told me he might be able to secure me an advance videotape of the movie for my personal viewing only. A few days later I met one of the lead scholars who was advising Gibson and he told me he would send me a preliminary version of the film, but cautioned that it was subject to editing change.
Shortly after arriving back in Boston, I received the unedited full-length movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” Needless to say, I viewed the movie several times, sometimes with my family, other times with informed friends. I also did a considerable review of the Bible and discussed the passion and death of Jesus Christ with several theologians and religious scholars, both Jewish and Catholic, over the four or five months when I had the opportunity to study the film. This, of course, does not make me a Biblical scholar, but “The Passion of the Christ” is a movie not intended to be a divinely-inspired documentary.
Before I give you my take on the movie, I’ll say that when someone’s racial, ethnic, or religious sensibilities are raised, my political and moral antenna automatically raises, so I try to be cautious, responsible and informed before speaking. This is a policy that served Boston, and me, very well while I was mayor. When I first saw the movie, my reaction was that it was painful to witness the kind of horrific punishment, torture and humiliation that Christ suffered at the hands of Roman soldiers. My pain and numbness quickly turned into sadness and anguish. But my sentiments then turned to God’s boundless love for all of humanity, a love that allowed His only Son’s brutal death on the cross so that we might have eternal life.
In the several national media interviews that I have done, some with well-respected Catholic and Jewish scholars, a few recurring questions appear, which I would like to address. But first I have to point out my disappointment on why the media irresponsibly gave so much airtime to critics of the movie who had not even seen it. Now let me address three key questions. Is the movie too violent? Is it anti-Semitic? Is the movie historically accurate?
The answer to those key questions must be qualified by saying, it all depends on who is watching the film. I have never experienced a film that has meant so many different things to people of diverse backgrounds. That is why it is one of the most controversial films of my lifetime. To listen to some of the Hollywood folks who I appeared on television with, preaching about the film as being too violent, I have a simple question for them: Where have you been? You are the same people who have made and produced some of the most violent and sexual exploitive films ever. Your movies and television shows, with the steady depiction of senseless violence and wanton sex, has dramatically changed our culture and, in my opinion, negatively affected our children’s moral development. Their hypocrisy is simply too much to accept. They have no moral credibility on what is too violent. I’ve heard the media elite repeatedly and recklessly attack the film and Mel Gibson personally. One prominent anti-Catholic commentator is the same person who regularly and savagely berates Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, the Catholic church and even Jesus Christ Himself. Is he the only person the national media can find to talk about Christian issues? A well-known virulent anti-Catholic? Did some people find the movie violent? Yes, of course. Even I did, but then again I think many Hollywood films are violent. I don’t think these hypocrites speaking about violence should be taken seriously.
The other concern that I took seriously was, is “The Passion of the Christ” anti-Semitic? It is not in my opinion, but then, I am not Jewish. I did speak with some Jewish scholars, who said they didn’t think that it was. But others said it was. Directly stated, the movie does not blame (if indeed there must be blame) the Jews collectively for the death of Jesus Christ, but all humanity. As we all learned in our Bible studies, Christ Himself freely embraces His destiny, stating clearly, “No one takes it [my life] from me, but I lay it down of myself.” (John 10:18). Mel Gibson even opened the movie with an opening quotation from the prophet Isaiah that explains that Christ was “crushed for our transgressions.” As I have heard Pope John Paul II often quote Vatican II’s decree “Nostra Actate,” which affirms that though Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Jesus Christ, neither all Jews indiscriminately at that time, nor Jews today, could be charged with crimes committed during His passion. As the review by Catholic News Service stated, “Overall, the film presents the Jews in the same way as any other group — a mix of vice and virtue, good and bad.” In addressing this same question in my media interviews, I pointed out that the movie, “The Passion,” was an accurate blessing, because it has already generated a meaningful dialogue about Christ’s suffering and death. It also gave us a deeper understanding of the drama of salvation and the magnitude of God’s love and forgiveness. We must always remember that the passion itself is not about what men did to God, but what God endured for humanity.
The other question and concern that has been raised is, is the movie historically accurate? Not being a Biblical scholar myself, I can only tell you that I watched an early version of the film several times, sometimes with scholars. I must remind everyone that it is a movie, not a divinely-inspired documentary about Christ’s death. But still, in my opinion, it is an accurate portrayal of the Gospel accounts of the last 12 hours of Christ’s life. As Vatican scholars briefed me during the production of the movie, and as the U.S. Bishops Office for Films and Broadcasting reported, “The Passion” does not simply translate a single Gospel narrative onto the screen. “Rather it is a composite of the passion narrative in the four Gospels embroidered with non-scriptural traditions as well as the imaginative inspiration of the filmmaker. The result is a deeply personal work of devotional art — a moving Stations of the Cross, so to speak.”
Some of the criticism of the film, however, was reasoned and justifiable, especially from some respected Jewish leaders who were concerned about the “potential” for some bigots and haters to raise the ugly voices of
anti-Semitism. But those media and Hollywood cynics and hypocrites who continue to trash the film and Mel Gibson personally should receive the Pontius Pilate Award for not having the courage of their convictions, and explain to us why they really hate the film.
My concluding comments go even deeper than this or any other movie. It is what I have been saying for a while to friends in the Catholic church and in the Jewish community. The progress that was made in the past, which I witnessed and was even part of, in helping build bridges of respect and understanding between Jews and Catholics, I’m sad to say has been steadily slipping away. Mistrust and division have already begun to set in.
The heroes of the past are no longer with us, and others are simply not on the scene as they once were. The O’Connors, Zakims, Rudins, Laws, Foxmans, Coppersmiths and so many others. We need new voices to fill their shoes and continue to build those bridges of tolerance and respect between Jews and Catholics in our country today. This is not a movie, this is real.
(The writer is former mayor of Boston, a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, and currently national president of Your Catholic Voice.)