English Bishops Defend and Endorse "The Passion"

LONDON, MARCH 11, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The Catholic bishops of England and Wales have endorsed Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," calling the movie a "positive and faithful account of the Gospels."

The movie, which opened in America on Ash Wednesday, has become, according to the Hollywood daily Variety, "a cultural phenomenon." It has taken in about $224 million in its first two weeks of release. The film is scheduled for a nationwide release in Britain on March 26.

In a statement, the bishops' conference said it disagreed with the charge that "The Passion" was anti-Semitic, the Catholic Herald reported.

"We do not believe that the film portrays the Jewish people as collectively responsible for Christ's death," the statement said. "We disagree that the violence in the film is gratuitous."

Let's see the Phillipine bishops, now the English bishops...Did I miss the US Bishops?