The film, the story, the faith” “

Already being screened in Swiss and German cinemas, expected in Great Britain on 26 March and in Italy on 7 April, Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of Christ” is everywhere arousing conflicting reactions and judgements. Switzerland “A film we could have done without”: that’s the view expressed by the Federation of Swiss Evangelical Church (EKD) and by the information service of the Swiss Episcopal Conference in a press release on 22 May. The film is considered “historically unreliable and in many parts problematic”, for example because it limits “the image of Christ to the suffering Christ”. The Swiss Churches also contest the film’s historical authenticity, asserting that “the various narratives of the Passion, even in the four Gospels themselves, make no claim to represent” the event ‘as it really was’, but instead “contain theological explanations and accentuations and cannot be considered a mere chronicle of facts”. Commenting on the scenes of violence in the film, the churches recognize on the positive side that the film clarifies “that the Cross is not in the first place a symbol, still less a decorative object, but an instrument of torture and death”. Nonetheless, they ask, “is not the same end of actively coming to terms with the suffering and death of Christ perhaps attainable also – and better – with less violence?”. On the accusation of antisemitism, they say: “Even the mere quotation of the Bible may be antisemitic. The film is not immune from this specific danger” since “there are things that cannot be said after the Shoah without being simultaneously commented on, placed in their historical context and relativized”. Overall, however, the Swiss bishops affirm that “it is not appropriate to give a blanket negative judgement” of the film”, since “as a positive effect it is possible that it may inspire people to rediscover the original texts”. Germany In a joint press release issued on 19 March Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Episcopal Conference, Wolfgang Huber, president of the Evangelic Church and Paul Spiegel, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, have pronounced on Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion”. Lehmann, Huber and Spiegel call the violence shown in the film “extremely disturbing”. Although recognizing that the film “does make some differentiation in its portrayal of the Jews”, and hence is not stereotyped, they consider that “its representation risks reviving antisemitic prejudices”: a problem “of particular actuality given the present situation in Europe”. In warning of the danger of “any exploitation of the film and of the sufferings of Jesus”, Lehmann, Huber and Spiegel urge “all those responsible to strive to ensure that the good relations” existing between Christians and Jews “be not compromised by any exploitation of the sufferings of Jesus based on the film”. England and Wales In the view of the bishops of England and Wales, as expressed in a communiqué released at the beginning of March, the film is “a positive representation and faithful to the Gospels”. “We don’t believe that the film represents the Jewish people as collectively responsible for the death of Christ”, they declare, rejecting the accusation of antisemitism made against the film. The bishops also express their disagreement with the claim that the violence in the film is unnecessarily gratuitous, because, they explain, “we must insert it in the context of the history of our salvation”. Scotland The Catholic Media Office in Scotland put out a communiqué on 15 March, in which it is announced that all the Catholic parishes of Scotland will be sent a promotional flyer about Gibson’s film, containing a letter of Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell and chairman of the National Communications Commission. “The most authentic representation of the Passion ever entrusted to a film”: that’s the view of Msgr. Devine, who invites people to “see it before judging it”. The bishop calls “The Passion” “a profoundly religious film”. “I do not think it intends to attack or demonise any group”, he adds. “The message that forms the crux of the film”, he explains, “is that the suffering and death of Christ lead to the redemption of humanity”. “As Christians we believe that Christ suffered and died for us”, writes Devine. The violence displayed in the film “forces the spectator to reflect on this central truth of the Christian message”.