Posted on 03/11/2004 9:58:09 AM PST by nypokerface
According to the Rev. Carlos Mullins, for the majority of Latinos, the debate surrounding "The Passion of the Christ" is resolved. For them, he said, the controversial Mel Gibson film is all about love.
"'La Pasión de Cristo' is a good movie, very realistic and with great acting," said Mullins, a Catholic priest affiliated with St. Dominick's Church in the Bronx, reflecting the opinions of many of its parishioners.
And although he thinks it is very violent "almost from beginning to end" and would not recommend it for children, he believes the film's message is a positive one.
"Its message is one of love," said the Argentinian-born Mullins. "So much love, in fact, that Christ was willing to withstand all that suffering and even die to save humanity."
Mullins, energetic and personable, does not think the Mel Gibson film is in the least anti-Semitic. And he was clearly overwhelmed by its emotional impact, a feeling he says he shares with many of the Latinos who worship at St. Dominick's.
In fact, several of them got together to discuss "The Passion of the Christ" last Friday.
"The general reaction was one of, 'Now I really understand the suffering of Christ,'" Mullins said. "Everybody was very impressed and agreed that the film gives the most realistic depiction of the passion of Christ of any movie ever. My experience is that, in general, Latinos like the movie."
The majority of Hispanics, of course, define themselves as Catholics, although the number of those who embrace other Christian churches is growing by leaps and bounds. Yet most seem to agree that "La Pasión" is worth seeing. Even Edward Cardinal Egan urged the faithful, from his St. Patrick's Cathedral pulpit, to go see it.
"It's good we see it," the Daily News reported the cardinal saying, "because it tells us about the greatest prayer that was ever prayed. Sacrifice is the highest level of prayer."
Almost miraculously, "The Passion of the Christ," which deals in a very graphic manner with Jesus' last 12 hours, has been the runaway No. 1 movie in the country for several weeks.
After its first 12 days - undoubtedly helped by the controversy enveloping it - "The Passion" had become one of the 50 highest-grossing films of all time.
Nixa Rosado and her husband Rey Rosado are devout Catholics who attend St. Dominick's regularly. They saw "The Passion" in a Bronx theater. For them, it was more than a good movie - it was a religious experience.
"The theater was full of Latinos and African-Americans, many of them young people," said Nixa, who works in the registrar's office of Fordham University. "As soon as the movie started, silence was complete - except for the quiet sobbing of people in the audience. I cried practically from the beginning."
Much like Mullins, Nixa said that the movie, with its unsparing depiction of Christ's suffering, made her understand better the depth of His love for mankind.
"Not only for Christians, but for all mankind, without regard for race, color or language," said Rosado, who came from Puerto Rico in 1974.
Not everyone agrees, though. Jaime García, 28, a personal trainer from Ecuador, was put off by how bloody the movie was.
"It was unnecessary, and I think it was exaggerated," said García who identified himself as a "nonpracticing Catholic." And he added: "At the beginning I was moved, but as the movie went on I became numb to the suffering. It was just too cruel."
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