The Pope thinks Mel Gibson has got it right — now it’s your turn

YOU may think I’ve got my dates mixed up, but in the current media clamour to get a new angle on Christmas I have been thinking about Mel Gibson’s forthcoming film, The Passion, which focuses on the end of Jesus Christ’s life on earth, not his birth.

The Passion is not due to be released until Ash Wednesday 2004, but I got a sneak preview some weeks ago.

It will be controversial for two reasons: some claim it’s anti-semitic (it isn’t), while others complain that it’s extremely violent (it sure is). The Pope has seen it and approves. “It is as it was,” he is reported to have said, and those five words will probably ensure the film’s success at the box office.