The Catholic Review, April 28, 2004
‘The Passion’ revisited
William Cardinal Keeler
Archbishop of Baltimore, U.S. Bishops' Moderator for Catholic-Jewish Relations
In the annual Lenten Letter, I suggested that it could be helpful to see The Passion of the Christ, the recent film, with a person of another faith background and to discuss afterwards what was seen and its meaning for those who watched. As I wrote then, many who had seen the motion picture, Catholics all, told me how deeply impressed they were by its power to convey the extent of Christ’s sufferings and the depth of His love for us.
Some others, who had not seen it, expressed reservations and concerns about the film as a possible source of anti-Semitism. When I saw it first, I was overwhelmed by the vivid depiction of the physical brutality inflicted on Jesus and so missed much of the detail.
From priests and laity alike, I have heard how many more came to the Sacraments, the Holy Week services and the Stations of the Cross, an upswing attributable to people having seen the motion picture. In Baltimore and elsewhere, parishioners spoke to me of the spiritual reinforcement they found in the movie.
And then, at a meeting in New York, I was told by Jewish leaders of their heightened concerns and even fears. And thus, last week, I took my own advice and saw the movie with a rabbi and a well-informed Jewish layman, both of them articulate and sensitive. While I had heard and read criticisms before, this second viewing opened my eyes to aspects of the film I had not caught previously, and I saw why some of our Jewish neighbors view it with understandable concern and even a measure of fear.
Afterwards, we talked about the picture and its context in our increasingly secular society. For this conversation, the rabbi’s wife joined us. She, too, had seen the film.
For many Christians, I observed, the movie represents a breakthrough – an opportunity for faith values to be reflected on the screen in a way that has a broad appeal. I told the others present of the positive impact the film had had on many of our people. Father Rob Jaskot, from my office, shared his impressions also. He spoke of the deepening of his own faith and a greater awareness of the suffering of Christ. But, sitting with our Jewish friends, we both told of having seen a different picture.
Jesus, His mother and the Apostles were all Jewish. Still, the depiction of the Temple leaders and the crowd left impressions which, we saw, could be twisted in an anti-Semitic way. Our active Catholic people, those who regularly participate in Mass and hear the Church’s preaching, know full well that Jesus bore the sins of all of us. So also, the Catholics who have seen in the film no anti-Semitism have done so based on their understanding of the gospels and of the artistic creativity used in interpreting the gospel accounts. This can be interpreted as a positive result of the Church’s teachings, most especially since Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate.
We spoke of what is happening now on the Internet, with anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic Web sites everywhere. I told them what many of our Catholics feel, namely, that anti-Catholicism is currently a grave and stressing problem in the United States. There was agreement that some within Christianity are still very anti-Catholic and also that the secular side of our society is pressing in on all people of faith.
Christians who are anti-Catholic could also take from this movie an anti-Semitic viewpoint. Sadly, we agreed, in Arab countries and in places in Europe where there has been strong anti-Semitism in the past, the movie can cause harm. I can see the worry, even the fear, of our Jewish partners in dialogue, of evil as a possible result from Christians viewing this film unprepared. They spoke of some individual cases in the United States where Jewish children were spoken to abusively by some Christian youth. We agreed in hoping that through discussion and joint Catholic-Jewish statements genuine good can be accomplished, as we look together for the reconciliation and peace so much sought after by Pope John Paul II.
This past Monday morning I was privileged to meet with the Holy Father to introduce the auxiliary bishops and our priests studying in Rome to him. And, privately, to discuss with him a number of issues before our people in Baltimore. To our Catholic people he sends his special blessing. And to our many Jewish neighbors he asked me to convey his warm good wishes.