Here is the New york Times article about Mel Gibson’s Passion the rabbi was talking about. I think the article too neatly lumps all traditionalists together, including people loyal to the Church and the Pope along with sedevacantists and some guy who thinks he’s the true pope.
And while Mel Gibson’s dad comes across as a conspiracy theory kook, I wonder if there’s a bit of an attempt at guilt by association. We don’t really hear too much of Mel’s own thinking on many of the issues raised.
As for the charge that the film will be anti-Semitic, just read what the article itself says:
A friend of the Gibson family has his own ideas about how traditionalist thought is informing “The Passion.” Gary Giuffre, a founder of the traditionalist St. Jude Chapel in Texas, says Gibson told him about his plans for “The Passion” on a recent visit. “It will graphically portray the intense suffering of Christ, perhaps as no film has done before.” Most important, he says, the film will lay the blame for the death of Christ where it belongs—which some traditionalists believe means the Jewish authorities who presided over his trial and delivered him to the Romans to be crucified.
In his conversation with Bill O’Reilly (who prefaced the interview by disclosing that Gibson’s production company has optioned the rights to O’Reilly’s mystery novel), Gibson was asked whether his account might particularly upset Jews. “It may,” he said. “It’s not meant to. I think it’s meant to just tell the truth. I want to be as truthful as possible. But when you look at the reasons why Christ came, why he was crucified—he died for all mankind and he suffered for all mankind. So that, really, anyone who transgresses has to look at their own part or look at their own culpability.”
Doesn’t seem different from orthodox Catholic theology. All mankind is responsible for the suffering of Christ because He suffered and died for our sins. And notice how the article I linked below conveniently omits Mel’s own remarks on the subject, focusing only on his “friend’s” comments.
