Mel Gibson denies request to show his film at Vatican conference

Published: 2003-12-03

ROME (CNS) -- Director Mel Gibson turned down a request for a private screening of his controversial movie, "The Passion of Christ," at a Vatican-sponsored film conference. Organizers of the annual conference, Dec. 2 this year, had hoped to show the film behind closed doors to conference participants and offer Gibson an evaluation of the movie. Negotiations for the early screening were carried out by the Italian cinema and media association, Ente dello Spettacolo, which co-sponsors the conference and a related film festival with the Vatican. At the end of November, association director Andrea Piersanti told reporters he was "90 percent sure" they had a go-ahead from Gibson. But Piersanti announced Dec. 2 that at the last minute Gibson turned down the request because editing on the film's final version was not yet completed. Piersanti said he had been told that Gibson was working on "toning down the most violent scenes" in the movie. He said church experts may still get an early screening before the film is released early next year.

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