Vatican: In the latest twist to a saga involving the Vatican and Mel Gibson's controversial film about the death of Christ, Pope John Paul's closest aide has denied that the Pontiff had praised the film's Biblical accuracy.
Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, the Pope's private secretary, told the Catholic News Service on Monday: "The Holy Father told no one of his opinion of this film."
In recent weeks major world media organisations have written reports based on Church sources saying the Pope liked the film, and that he told aides that it was an accurate portrayal of Biblical accounts of Christ's final hours.
The Passion of the Christ is based on Gospel narratives, and contains dialogue only in Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic, the vernacular of ancient Palestine. It opens on February 25th.
The film, which covers the final 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ, has come under fire from some Jewish groups who fear it could foment anti-Semitism because it portrays Jewish authorities as largely responsible for Christ's death.
Archbishop Dziwisz issued his denial after weeks of reports that the Pope had told aides after seeing the film: "It is as it was."
Archbishop Dziwisz said: "The Holy Father saw the film privately in his apartment, but gave no declaration to anyone. He does not make judgements on art of this kind. He leaves that to others, to experts."
Supporters had seen the words attributed to the Pope as an endorsement of the film's Biblical accuracy, but some Jews are worried that they could harm Catholic-Jewish relations.
Last Sunday, columnist Frank Rich of the New York Times, who is Jewish, accused the film's producers of "roping him [the Pope\] into a publicity campaign to sell a movie".
Vatican spokesmen have declined to confirm or deny the reports over the past month.
Some Catholic and other Christian groups have defended the film, saying it sticks closely to accounts of the Crucifixion as told in the New Testament.
The film has been shown to a select audience of Catholic officials in several private screenings in recent weeks. Many Vatican officials have seen it in whole or part, and have rejected charges that it is anti-Semitic.
Gibson reportedly paid $20 million to $25 million of his money to make the movie, but despite his status as a top box office draw Hollywood's major studios shied away from distributing it because of the controversy. - (Reuters)