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Pope to Sign 2001 Synod Exhortation on October 16
Pope John Paul II will sign his apostolic exhortation reflecting on the Synod of Bishops held in 2001 on the 25th anniversary of his pontificate.

He made the announcement at Castelgandolfo on September 18, where he received participants in the customary course of study and formation for newly appointed bishops, organized by the Congregation for Bishops.

The pope told the bishops that the pastoral mission that has been entrusted to them "is exalting but today it is also particularly arduous and difficult", due to problems and uncertainties and the fact that many Christians seem to be "disoriented and without hope". For this reason, he added, "we pastors are called to proclaim the Gospel and to be witnesses of hope, with our gaze turned to the Cross, to the mystery of the triumph and fecundity of Christ crucified".

After recalling that the episcopal ministry, in light of theological hope, was the theme of the last Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, celebrated in 2001, the Holy Father announced that on October 16, on the 25th anniversary of his pontificate, he will sign the post-synodal apostolic exhortation.

Pope John Paul II emphasized that the episcopal ministry "calls us to lead a holy life. May you be the live and visible image of the Good Shepherd. Be vigilant over your flock.... Love the Church more than yourselves! Live in it and for it, giving yourselves entirely to pastoral service".

"Our apostolate", he continued, "must be an overflow of our interior life.... Be men of prayer! With your example, you will show the primacy of spiritual life, that is, the primacy of grace which is the soul of every apostolate".

The Holy Father urged the bishops to take care of their "first collaborators, priests" and he spoke about the urgency of "adequate pastoral ministry for vocations at the beginning of the third millennium".

"Vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life are a gift from God that needs to be asked for insistently in prayer. But", he concluded, "they are also the fruit of strong and healthy families and ecclesial communities where the figure of the priest is highly regarded and valued. May the choice of educators in the seminaries be made with the greatest care because only the personal testimony of a joyful and generous life is capable of leading the souls of young people today".

Luminous Mysteries Show Divine Nature of Jesus
Pope John Paul II, on his last scheduled Sunday at Castelgandolfo, September 21, recited the Angelus with the pilgrims who had come to the summer papal residence, continuing his spiritual pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, which he will visit in person on October 7.

The Holy Father told the gathering of pilgrims that he wished to meditate on the five Mysteries of Light, which he added to the Rosary last October 16, inaugurating the Year of the Rosary.

These mysteries, he said, highlight the "public life" of Jesus, "the time in which Jesus, through the power of words and works, reveals in a completed way the 'face' of our heavenly Father, inaugurating His reign of love, justice and peace. His baptism in the Jordan, the wedding feast at Cana, the proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor and the institution of the Eucharist: these are all moments of revelation, 'luminous' mysteries which allow the splendor of the divine nature of God in Jesus Christ to shine through".

The Holy Father underscored that "Mary's presence in these mysteries is for the most part in the background. Except in one: the wedding feast of Cana where the role of 'the Mother of God' is determining. It is she who tells her Son that there is no more wine; and when He answers that 'His hour' has not yet come, she entreats Him with maternal urgency, telling the servants: 'Do what He tells you'".

Mary thus shows, the Holy Father said, "that she has understood better than anyone else the inmost intentions of Jesus. Her heart knows His heart because from the beginning she has borne within her and meditated on His every gesture and every word. She is thus the very first and the principal teacher of Christian prayer".

Passions Run High over "The Passion"
Advance screenings of an unfinished version of a movie about the crucifixion of Christ elicited an unprecedented string of strong reactions -- pro and con -- this summer. "The Passion", directed by film star Mel Gibson, has been scored as anti-Jewish by some critics, and lauded by a Vatican cardinal as "a triumph of art and faith".

"As I watched this yet unfinished version of the film", said Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, "I experienced moments of profound spiritual intimacy with Jesus Christ. It is a film that leads the viewer into prayer and reflection, into heartfelt contemplation", the cardinal told Italian journalist Antonio Gaspari in an interview published September 18 by EWTN News.

Said Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, "This film is a triumph of art and faith. It will be a tool for explaining the person and message of Christ. I am confident that it will change for the better everyone who sees it, both Christians and non-Christians alike".

To the concern about the vivid depiction of the crucifixion igniting anti-Semitism, the Cardinal responded, "Anti-Semitism, like all forms of racism, distorts the truth in order to put a whole race of people in a bad light. This film does nothing of the sort. It draws out from the historical objectivity of the Gospel narratives sentiments of forgiveness, mercy, and reconciliation. It captures the subtleties and the horror of sin, as well as the gentle power of love and forgiveness, without making or insinuating blanket condemnations against one group. This film expressed the exact opposite, that learning from the example of Christ, there should never be any more violence against any other human being".

On a web site devoted to the film, Gibson, a member of the Society of St. Pius X, followers of the late Archbishop Lefebvre who broke with the Holy See, says that he based his script in part on the diaries of controversial 19th century visionary, Anne Catherine Emmerich.

On May 2, an 18-page report of an ad hoc committee of the U.S. bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs criticized the script. The group of nine Jewish and Christian academics that produced the report was assembled by Eugene Fisher of the bishops' conference and Rabbi Eugene Korn of the Anti-Defamation League. The group's central complaint was that is that "a graphic movie presentation of the crucifixion could reawaken the very anti-Semitic attitudes that we have devoted our careers to combating". It objects to the focus on Christ's passion rather than presenting a broader vision of "the ministry of Jesus, of His preaching and teaching about God's reign, His distinctive table companionship, His mediation of God's gracious mercy".

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops later issued a statement saying that the bishops' conference did not support the findings of this ad hoc group.

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver pointed to a striking irony in targeting "The Passion" in his Denver Catholic Register column May 30:

"I find it puzzling and disturbing that anyone would feel licensed to attack a film of sincere faith before it has even been released. When the overtly provocative 'The Last Temptation of Christ' was released 15 years ago, movie critics piously lectured Catholics to be open-minded and tolerant. Surely that advice should apply equally for everyone".

Gibson has encountered difficulty in finding a distributor for the film, and it is uncertain when it will be released.

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