Another Vatican View of The Passion

BBC, March 12 — Vatican theologian Father Raniero Cantalamessa has entered the controversy aroused by groups criticizing The Passion of the Christ, the British Broadcasting Corp. has reported.

Father Cantalamessa, who is preacher to the papal household, said in a Lenten sermon that any film should be criticized if it suggested — contrary to the teaching of Vatican II — that all Jews of Jesus' day or any Jews of subsequent generations are responsible for the death of Jesus.

However, he continued, “[The Passion of the Christ] cannot be accused of betraying the real story if it restricts itself to showing an influential group of Jews at the time playing a determining role” in the death of Jesus, he said — since that is the account given in the Gospels.

The film opens in Italy on April 7, during Holy Week.

Pope Might Meet Patriarch in Warsaw

NOVOSTI (Russia), March 14 — Cardinal Josef Glemp of Poland offered hope on March 14 that Pope John Paul II might be able to attain his long-desired goal of meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei during the Pope's planned visit to his native land in June 2005.

Cardinal Glemp told a radio interviewer he was considering inviting the Russian Orthodox leader for a concurrent visit.

“We will be having all kinds of guests, various outstanding personalities,” the cardinal explained, “not just Catholics.”

Students Across Europe Join Rosary With Pope

FIDES, March 14 — On March 13, during the second Day for European University Students held in Rome by the Council of European Bishops' Conferences, the theme was “Christ, Hope for Europe,” reported Fides, the Vatican's missionary news service.

The main event was a multinational prayer vigil with Pope John Paul II held in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. The event was linked live via television and radio with the capitals of the 10 countries about to become EU members: Tallinn, Estonia; Vilnius, Lithuania; Riga, Latvia; Warsaw, Poland; Prague, Czech Republic; Bratislava, Slovakia; Lublijana, Slovenia; Budapest, Hungary; Valletta, Malta; and Nicosia, Cyprus.

Before the vigil, speakers from across Europe offered reflections on the centrality of Christian faith to the unity and vitality of Europe.

Church Addresses Atheism and Indifference

VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE, March 13 — Meeting with staff and members of the Pontifical Council for Culture after their meeting on “The Christian Faith at the Dawn of the New Millennium and the Challenge of Unbelief and Religious Indifference,” Pope John Paul II praised the group for confronting critical problems in the Church.

“Cultural and artistic expressions are not lacking in riches or resources for the transmission of the Christian message,” the Pope said, but these must be made better known, Vatican Information Service reported.

“It is through philosophical and catechetical formation that young people will learn how to discern the truth,” the Holy Father said. “A serious rational approach is a rampart against all that which refers to ideologies, leading to the desire to study ever more deeply, so that philosophy and reason become open to Christ.”