Churches Join Jewish Community in Warning of Anti-Semitism in Gibson Film

March 18, 2004

Source: Yahoo! News

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=598&ncid=790&e=1&u=/nm/20040318/film_nm/religion_germany_film_dc

On March 18, 2004 Yahoo! News posted a Reuters article that reported, "Germany's Roman Catholic and Protestant churches joined the Jewish community Thursday in a rare joint declaration to warn that Mel Gibson's film 'The Passion of the Christ' could fan anti-Semitism in Europe. In their first joint statement in four years, the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the German Bishops Conference and the Protestant Church criticized the film that opened on Thursday in Germany for its 'overly negative portrayal' of Jews. 'There is a danger the film will revive anti-Semitic prejudices,' they said. 'This is especially explosive in view of the situation in Europe with a noticeable increase in anti-Semitism. Whether its intention was anti-Semitic or not, there is a danger it could be used as anti-Semitic propaganda.'"