By Ann M. Augherton
Herald Managing Editor
(From the issue of 3/4/04)

"It takes a movie for this generation to get it," said Kate Bergman, 26, assistant director of the diocesan Youth Office. "We’re so inundated with flashy, loud images and music, it takes making Christ huge and putting him on the big screen to reach certain people."

The Feb. 24 sneak preview of "The Passion of the Christ" drew more than 800 people to a Fairfax theatre last week to watch Mel Gibson’s often controversial film.

When the film ended and the credits rolled — white lettering on a black screen — very few people moved from their seats. The dark theatre remained quiet, except for an occasional sniffle or nose being blown.

"It was hard," Bergman said, "but I don’t think anyone expected it to be any other way."

Prior to the film, Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde addressed the audience who filled two theatres, telling them that he shared their "faith and enthusiasm for the Lord Jesus."

The bishop said he was told the film was "profoundly powerful," but that the new awareness of Christ would "allow us to love Him more in return." He challenged the audience to "get to know and love more the Lord through prayer," make up for past sins through acts of penance, and "make His love for you more visible to others."

"I knew how the story was going to end, but I didn’t want it to go there," said Brendan Menuey, a public school teacher and volunteer with the high school youth program at St. Thomas á Becket Parish in Reston. "Thank God it did," he added.

"It wasn’t graphic enough," he said considering what Jesus must have gone through. "It’s hard to sit there, and you wince as you see the pain and humiliation He went through for us."

As far as the concerns that the film is anti-Semitic, Menuey said, "I could see how if you’re looking for something, you’ll find it. For all of us, everyone in the movie is guilty and everyone in the theatre is guilty."

Annie Scott, a Christian and fellow public school teacher, tried to have an intellectual reaction to the film, but with the music and it being on the big screen, she said she found herself having a more emotional reaction.

Mike Power, youth minister at St. Thomas á Becket Parish, said he understands that viewers might be very unsettled and shaken by the movie, but he hopes they will be at peace with the fact that they are unsettled and shaken by it.

Diocesan Youth Director Kevin Bohli said he thought "it would be great for young people of the diocese to experience ‘The Passion’ together at the beginning of Lent." He said people came from as far away as Culpeper and Fredericksburg, and a group of 75 came from All Saints Parish in Manassas, all to be among the first to see the movie.

Bohli said he observed that more adults, than teens, were having a harder time with the movie. He saw a few people leave during the movie, including an older couple who said the movie was too much for them.

"Maybe the adults are more advanced in their faith lives, or could associate more with what was on the screen," he said.

Despite the criticism of the movie, Bohli believes that, "People should experience this movie. Mel Gibson accomplished something making us feel uncomfortable in our seats. We should feel uncomfortable."

To counter that uncomfortable feeling, youth volunteers handed out informational sheets on nearby churches and resources for adults, informative Web sites, and questions to prompt youth group discussions.

Bergman was touched by seeing the relationship between Mary and Jesus. Often, the only relief from the difficult scenes was flashbacks of Mary running toward a young Jesus who had fallen, or an older Jesus building a wooden table and playfully splashing water on Mary as she rinsed his hands.

It was during the scenes where Mary was watching the scourging of the adult Jesus or the crucifixion that drew more audible weeping from the audience. Those scenes, Bergman thought, showed the humanity of Christ and helped connect the audience with Mary and Jesus, "because we understand relationships."