Fr. Wiebe+ Again, thank you. It is amazing the reponse that Gibson's film has received. A formerly high ranking Republican commented that this could be a watershed event, changing the trajectory of our country. It is interesting that leaders in the Western Church from JPII to Billy Graham and the fundamentalist Protestants at beliefnet.com speak highly of the film. In fact, the folks at belief net are cashing in on the film by selling a book via internet for $9.95 that features a debate between some conservative and Dominic Crossan. I purposely waited until after Easter to view the film because I have enough problems keeping some semblance of emotional control without having 3 hours of film imagery to contend with. Charles+ --------------------------- Chicago Sun Times ARticle forwarded by Fr. Wiebe: Greek Orthodox leaders tell flock 'Passion' isn't accurate February 26, 2004 BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter Advertisement Leaders of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Chicago have sent letters to all of their parishes warning clergy and the faithful that some of the theological ideas expressed in Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ" are not part of their tradition. "It distorts the gospel message," said the Very Rev. Demetri Kantzavelos, chancellor of the Chicago diocese, which includes 59 parishes in Illinois and five other Midwestern states. "The errors that deviate from the gospel are profound." "My fear is that this might be the only 'gospel' that people see or read," he said. "The Passion" chronicles the final 12 hours of Jesus' life, including more than an hour of graphic depictions of brutal scourging and crucifixion. Gibson has said the film is based on New Testament accounts and other scholarship. A critique of the film also released by Kantzavelos for the diocese said Gibson's interpretation of the death of Jesus "distorted the ultimate meaning of Christ's passion" and was "beyond the embrace of Orthodox Christianity." "The Orthodox Christian tradition has never focused attention on nor explicitly promulgated an 'atonement theology' as central to church teachings," Kantzavelos wrote in the critique. "The point of Christ's death was to triumph over death and make a way for each of us who come after him to join with him. "The film misses this point," he wrote. "In Orthodox Christianity, we are asked to identify with his victory, not with his suffering alone." Kantzavelos said that Metropolitan Iakovos, head of the Chicago diocese, felt compelled to send the cautionary letters to parishes after many called the diocese for guidance about youth and church groups viewing the film. "Having just the passion -- the 12 hours -- lifted and compacted into two hours without Christ's social gospel message or his healings . . . renders the movie gratuitously violent for no reason," said Kantzavelos, who saw the film Monday. "I was not profoundly moved. I was profoundly disturbed." Gibson's spokesman did not return a request for comment. "The Passion" focuses almost entirely on the suffering of Jesus, with a short depiction of the resurrection -- about two minutes at the end of the 126-minute film. http://www.suntimes.com/output/movies/cst-nws-orth26.html