Criteria for dramatization of Passion based on Vatican II principles

Published: 2004-02-05

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A 1988 statement by the U.S. bishops containing criteria on how to treat dramatizations of Christ's passion follows Vatican principles enunciated since the Second Vatican Council, according to Eugene J. Fisher. Church teaching on how Jews should -- and should not -- be depicted in retelling the Passion story is a matter of "going back to the way the church interprets the Scriptures," Fisher, an associate director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, said in an interview. Concern about how the soon-to-be released Mel Gibson film, "The Passion of the Christ," depicts Jews has been the focus of controversy surrounding the film. The bishops' 1988 "Criteria for the Evaluation of Dramatizations of the Passion" said that "any presentations that explicitly or implicitly seek to shift responsibility from human sin onto this or that historical group, such as the Jews, can only be said to obscure a core Gospel truth." Mixing the four Gospel Passion accounts and "extrabiblical records," the document says, "leaves the widest possible latitude for artistic creativity and insight, but also for abuses and prejudices."

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