Pope Loves Mel Gibson's Film

"It is as it was."

This, Peggy Noonan reports in the Opinion Journal, was the Pope's comment to his good friend Msgr. Stanislaw Dziwisz after watching "The Passion of Christ," Mel Gibson's much-maligned film.

In other words, the Holy Father feels that Mel Gibson's film accurately shows how events unfolded in the last days of Christ on Earth.

The Vatican has had no official comment on the movie, but Noonan in her latest column tells us that "John Paul II, who even with the challenges of his current illness has more good sense than many of his cardinals, knew of the controversy surrounding Mr. Gibson's film, and wanted to see it."

When he did, he approved wholeheartedly of Gibson's rendering.

Producer Steve McEveety laughingly told Noonan that the pontiff saw the film "At the pope's pad," i.e., the papal apartments. "He had to watch it late in the evening," Mr. McEveety said of John Paul. "He's pretty well booked. But he really wanted to see it."

Noonan writes that the Msgr. told McEveety that John Paul II "found ["The Passion"] very powerful, and approved of it."

"I was kind of relieved – it's a scary thing," Mr. McEveety told Noonan. "But Billy Graham saw it and was very supportive, and now JPII. The amazing thing is they're in agreement on the film."

Noonan writes that the pope, in supporting the film and affirming its merits, repudiates those who feel the film, and Gibson, are anti-Semitic.

John Paul II, she writes, has done more for Judeo-Christian relations than any other pope.

This pope would know anti-Semitic, and this film isn't.

Noonan concludes: If the pontiff's feelings end the controversy over the film, it would be a "beautiful gift to everyone this holiday season."

Editor's Note: Get the inside story of Gibson's movie "The Passion of Christ." NewsMax Magazine talks with Mel Gibson -- Click here!

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