Pope never commented on Gibson's 'Passion' film, says papal secretary

Published: 2004-01-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II never said "It is as it was" after watching Mel Gibson's film on the passion of Jesus, said the pope's longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz. "The Holy Father told no one his opinion of this film," the archbishop told Catholic News Service Jan. 18. Archbishop Dziwisz watched the film in the pope's apartment with Pope John Paul and with the pope's second secretary in early December. The film, "The Passion of the Christ," is set for release in the United States Feb. 25, Ash Wednesday. The alleged papal quote has appeared in hundreds of newspapers around the world as an unequivocal endorsement of Gibson's controversial film even though papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls refused to confirm the pope said it.

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