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Zeffirelli to help pope with image
Japan Today ^ | Sunday, December 16, 2007 at 07:27 EST

Posted on 12/15/2007 3:51:34 PM PST by DeaconBenjamin

ROME — Italian film and opera legend Franco Zeffirelli has agreed to become an image consultant to Pope Benedict XVI, the director said in an interview published Saturday.

The pope does not have a "happy image," Zeffirelli told La Stampa, adding: "Coming after a pope as telegenic as John Paul II is a difficult task."

Benedict, elected in 2005, "comes across coldly, which isn't suited to his surroundings," Zeffirelli said, adding that the pope's wardrobe "should be reviewed."

The pope's robes are "too sumptuous and flashy," the 84-year-old director of "Jesus of Nazareth" and "Romeo and Juliet" told the daily La Stampa. They should instead reflect "the simplicity and sobriety seen in the other echelons of the Church," he said.

The 80-year-old German pope "doesn't smile much, but he's an intellectual," Zeffirelli said.

The pope also wants Zeffirelli be a consultant to the Vatican "responsible for defending the faith in cinema, the image of the sacred," the director said.

"The Holy father is very aware that the Church's cinematographic communication is in ruins today. As a Christian, I cannot stand by while this disaster unfolds," Zeffirelli said.

"I should have the full authority — and the Holy Father would not deny me — to denounce the continual blasphemies committed with the intention of popularising the Christian message," he said.

"You have to pay attention, as shown by the fallout from Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ' which irreversibly harmed the memory of millions of people," the director added.

"Images have invaded ... values that used to belong to preaching and the written word," he lamented. "Advertising language has become ubiquitous in the religious domain."

Zeffirelli has brainstormed ideas with the pope and senior Vatican officials, but will get to work in earnest after his staging of Puccini's "Tosca," which opens at the Rome Opera on Jan 14, he said.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: francozeffirelli; melgibson; pope; popebenedict; popebenedictxvi; vatican; zeffirelli
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My wife loves his Romeo and Juliet.
1 posted on 12/15/2007 3:51:37 PM PST by DeaconBenjamin
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To: DeaconBenjamin

I have a feeling the Vatican will be denying this.


2 posted on 12/15/2007 3:57:27 PM PST by Krankor (kROGER)
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To: Krankor

It's gotta spice things up.

3 posted on 12/15/2007 4:03:22 PM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

He woud have used his position to condemn “The Passion of the Christ” for antisemitism?

Next thing you know, he’ll be advising the Pope to wear alpha male brown suits.

Ugh.


4 posted on 12/15/2007 4:05:17 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Krankor
To Do:

1) - Redesign Papal Robes...


5 posted on 12/15/2007 4:06:20 PM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: Cicero

C’mon, Frankie is 84. He went to see the Pope and Bennie told him he was a nice guy and everything and then Frankie thought he was the Pope’s new image maker.


7 posted on 12/15/2007 4:12:03 PM PST by Krankor (kROGER)
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To: Krankor

I hope so. I like the Pope’s colorful robes. He looks like a Pope should.


8 posted on 12/15/2007 4:28:57 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Cicero
He also acts like a Pope should. I can't believe this story is true. If you were truly interested in improving the Pope's image, the last thing you'd do is announce it.
9 posted on 12/15/2007 4:33:26 PM PST by Krankor (kROGER)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

So do all of the freshmen!


10 posted on 12/15/2007 4:34:32 PM PST by bannie
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To: Krankor

I was a fan of Cardinal Ratzinger before I was a fan of Pope Benedict. He is an absolutely brilliant thinker, maybe even more so than PJP II, who I think had three PhDs and wrote some of the best encyclicals in history.

Most of his books are published by Ignatius Press. I’d recommend anyone who wants a first impression to look at his early book, The Meaning of Christian Brotherhood, which has earned praise from Evangelical theologians.


11 posted on 12/15/2007 5:03:04 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: DeaconBenjamin
I think the Pope is just fine the way he is. I think he conveys a very warm image in his own unique way. I have seen him on TV and in person.
12 posted on 12/15/2007 5:07:00 PM PST by k omalley (Caro Enim Mea, Vere est Cibus, et Sanguis Meus, Vere est Potus)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

Get some classy looking fish hats.


13 posted on 12/15/2007 5:12:39 PM PST by jwh_Denver (No more SOUTHERN GOVERNORS for President. PERIOD)
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To: Cicero
He's a sharp study alright.

Pope Benedict recently had some carefully chosen and thoughtful things to say about the current climate change debate which are reproduced here.

14 posted on 12/15/2007 5:28:01 PM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

But he’s nuts.


15 posted on 12/15/2007 5:54:41 PM PST by onedoug
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To: billorites
The German-born Pontiff said that while some concerns may be valid it was vital that the international community based its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement.

Kudos to Pope Benedict. That was well-spoken.

16 posted on 12/15/2007 6:17:34 PM PST by DeaconBenjamin
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To: k omalley

What he writes is what is so meaningful to me.His clarity and the beauty of his words on hope and other things lifts me.
The wisdom of appointing a cardinal in struggling Iraq and his statements about global warming that recognizes the human hatred in some of it’s adherents.We should listen to him.
I should care what he wears?


17 posted on 12/15/2007 8:00:32 PM PST by georgia peach (georgia peach)
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To: billorites

Yes, I saw his comments on climate change. And then there were his earlier comments at Regensburg on the difficulty of talking with Muslims—and modernists/relativists.

Maybe he could be Secretary of State in his spare time.


18 posted on 12/15/2007 8:29:00 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Cicero
I was a fan of Cardinal Ratzinger before I was a fan of Pope Benedict. He is an absolutely brilliant thinker, maybe even more so than PJP II, who I think had three PhDs and wrote some of the best encyclicals in history.

That's right. I came to the same conclusion, Pope Benedict, imho, is one of the great minds of the past century. It's a close contest, but I too, have thought that Pope Benedict is even more brilliant than Pope John Paul II. The Catholic Church has been uniquely and truly blessed to have these two great men.
19 posted on 12/15/2007 10:03:12 PM PST by khnyny (Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed. Winston Churchill)
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To: Cicero
I found a few images of attire Pope Benedict XVI has worn...it doesn't look too "flashy" to me. :-)










20 posted on 12/16/2007 6:26:12 AM PST by ConservativeStLouisGuy (11th FReeper Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Unnecessarily Excerpt)
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