Atlanta, Ga., Feb 22, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Mel Gibson’s film about the Passion of Christ is a “gift from God” that will help make Lent and Easter more meaningful this year, said Archbishop John F. Donoghue in a letter he addressed to the faithful of Atlanta Feb. 10.
“I believe that all people should see this film. And as your bishop, I would urge all Catholics of the Archdiocese of Atlanta to see this film,” he wrote, adding that those who view it will inevitably be changed.
“It will not leave you the same person you were before — you will never again not be able to picture the scope of our Lord's suffering, and the terrible price He paid in order to save us,” he continued.
He called the Ash Wednesday release of The Passion of The Christ “a special event, which can help to make this Lent unlike any before, and perhaps, change us permanently, in the way we visualize and attempt to share in the great love our Lord has shown us.”