HOLY FATHER HAS SEEN MEL GIBSON'S FILM "THE PASSION"

VATICAN CITY, JAN 22, 2004 (VIS) - The following statement was released this morning by Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls:

"After consultation with the Holy Father's personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, I can confirm that the Pope has had the opportunity to see the film, 'The Passion of the Christ'. The film is the cinematographic recounting of the historical fact of the passion of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel accounts.

"It is the Holy Father's custom not to express public judgments on artistic works, judgments which are always open to diverse evaluations of an aesthetic nature."
OP/FILM THE PASSION/NAVARRO-VALLS VIS 20040122 (110)