Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com
Monday, Jan. 12, 2004

The Forward, the nation's leading Jewish weekly, reports that Vatican liberals question claims that when the pope saw the film he commented, "It is as it was."

The paper also said that conservative Vatican officials around John Paul II are using the pope's statement to quash criticism of the film.

But the Forward’s contention that conservatives are taking advantage of "the pope's advanced physical deterioration" is called into serious question by remarks made to Crisis magazine editor Deal Hudson by the pope’s biographer and close friend George Weigel, who had dinner with John Paul II within the last two weeks.

Weigel told Hudson that the pope was "out of his wheelchair and looking very healthy; his speech and color had improved greatly since the time of his silver anniversary two months ago, and in general he seemed to have more energy."

Thrilled

Hudson added that "George was absolutely thrilled by the pope's improved condition; they had a wonderful chat and it was evident that John Paul's presence was as strong as ever."

Adding credence to Weigel’s eyewitness report of the improvement in the pope’s condition was a Vatican report that the pope is planning at least four foreign trips this year.

Apparently basing their opinion on the idea that an ailing pope is being used by conservatives to bolster their own power and was not capable of making the statement favoring the Gibson film, the Forward reported that "some Catholic leaders are openly questioning the circumstances of the alleged papal remark and urging colleagues to use their own judgment on the film."

Still, the pope's viewing of the yet-to-be-released film that has sparked so much controversy is unprecedented and would have implied an implicit endorsement.

According to the Forward, "Some church liberals and Jewish communal officials involved in interfaith dialogue argued that it was still unclear whether the pope's review of the film was reported accurately in the press, since no official confirmation of his position had been issued as of Tuesday. Others slammed the way the screening was organized and publicized by the pope's conservative advisers, who have reportedly assumed extensive duties as the pontiff's health has deteriorated."

The Forward reported that observers such as Father John Pawlikowski, president of the International Council of Christians and Jews, see the conflict over the film as merely part of a larger struggle between Vatican conservatives and liberals over the direction in which the Church seems to be going.

Pawlikowski told the Forward that the focus of the controversy is the future of some reforms adopted at the Second Vatican, which included the forceful repudiation of the notion that Jews share a collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus.

Excesses

"It is a question as to whether Vatican II in its principal thrust is to be upheld and further amplified or whether what is considered its excesses need to be excised," Pawlikowski told the Forward.

"This Gibson business has become something other than what it is," said the top interfaith expert at the American Jewish Committee, David Rosen.

Rosen, who is based in Jerusalem, not Rome, told the Forward: "It has become an excuse for liberals and conservative Catholics to stake out their position. The forces closest to the pope seem to be more of the conservative inclination. They don't influence how the pope views things, but they communicate in the name of the pope, and the moment you communicate, almost by definition, you interpret."

"I remain, as do others, very skeptical as to whether this ailing pope was fully briefed about the concerns we and others have expressed" about the film, Pawlikowski told the Forward. "The fact that Cardinal Walter Kasper, the person this pope appointed to oversee [Catholic-Jewish] relations, was not included in this process makes us seriously question the way in which this papal screening was handled by some of his advisers."

Pawlikowski is among the Catholic and Jewish scholars who first blasted the film without ever seeing it, though the scholars did review a copy of the script that Gibson's production firm claims had been stolen.

Relying on the stolen early shooting script, they charged that the film would stir up anti-Semitism.

Inspired

The group, which was originally portrayed as speaking for the nation’s Catholic bishops association, is composed of scholars who dispute the accuracy of the Four Gospels, upon which Gibson’s film is solidly based and which for 2,000 years have been accepted by Christians as inspired by the Holy Spirit.

One of the so-called scholars went so far as to suggest that the writers of the Gospels, Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, slanted the Gospel accounts of Christ’s crucifixion to curry favor with the Romans.

The U.S. Catholic Bishops issued a statement saying the scholars did not represent the bishops.

Among those supporting the film is Francis Maier, the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Denver, who denied that political machinations were behind the papal screening of "The Passion" and the pope's resulting comment. "Trying to find a political dimension of this in the Vatican proceeds from the false assumption that a monolithic statement could come out of the Vatican that would end all discussion of the film," Maier told the Forward.

Maier, who saw the film with Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, claimed he had seen confirmation of the papal endorsement from the pope's spokesman.

Those members of the Jewish community who oppose the film were shocked when, in the wake of the reports of the pope’s endorsement of Gibson’s work, the Anti-Defamation League’s Abraham Foxman appeared to be backing away from his previously heated attacks on the film.

Foxman issued a guarded statement on the pope's reported comments, saying that "if in fact his reaction to the film is positive," the organization respected the pontiff's view. "We must reserve final judgment on 'The Passion of Christ' until we have an opportunity to see the film."

While others in the Jewish community criticized Foxman, one ADL leader, Seymour Reich, defended the organization's approach: "Abe is saying he doesn't know what the pope saw. He couldn't continue to criticize the film; he doesn't know if it's changed or not," he told the Forward.

Editor's note:
Mel Gibson fights back and talks with NewsMax Magazine – click here for new revelations