[Cicero]

I appreciate the honesty of this review. As a Catholic I'll add my two cents worth that no Catholic ever saw Mary as divine. The "Hail Mary" is mostly made up of a collection of biblical texts. The traditional Catholic view is that Mary is willing to intercede for people with her Son, and that He is pleased to grant her wishes as he was at Cana.

As for what I have heard about the movie, it is this: Mary teachers the viewer, who can barely stand watching some parts of it, how to view the Passion. We see it partly through her eyes and with her help. If she can look, so can we.

As I understand it, Satan is another witness of the Passion. He also is an interpreter, but a false interpreter, of what is happening. Mary and Satan are, as it were, proxy witnesses for the theater audience, who help teach us how to view it.

I would add that if you read the collected works of Martin Luther, you will find great honor and respect for Mary throughout. He only denied her the title "Queen of Heaven." It was some later Protestants who feared that Mary would detract from the centrality of Jesus. But she always points us back toward Him.

[what's up]

"no Catholic ever saw Mary as divine"

This may be, but what is the Immaculate Conception Doctrine all about (this centers around Mary as being sinless.)

Also, I sure would love a Catholic explaining where they get the Anunciation thing (where Mary is swept up into Heaven miraculously).

I may be wrong but I believe these 2 doctrines were just introduced by the Catholic Church in the last century. Can a Catholic corroborate this?