Nativity Story debuts at Vatican Estimated 7,000 turn out for world premiere and benefit screening, but the Pope wasn't among them.
by Josh Hurst | posted 11/27/06 A new movie about the birth of Christ was "born" Sunday at The Vatican, but its Most Famous Resident wasn't able to attend. Pope Benedict XVI, preparing for a visit to Turkey, missed the world premiere screening of The Nativity Story, which opens worldwide on Friday, Dec. 1. "I think the pope is pretty busy," quipped Nativity director Catherine Hardwicke, who was joined at the premiere by Oscar Isaac, who plays Joseph, and Shohreh Aghdashloo, who plays Elizabeth. Keisha Castle-Hughes, who plays Mary, did not attend. Castle-Hughes, 16, announced in October that she is pregnant (by a 19-year-old boyfriend she's been dating for three years), and is staying out of the publicity limelight to focus on her pregnancy and the upcoming birth of her child, which she plans to keep. USA Today quoted Oscar Isaac as saying that "people are understanding" and "being compassionate, not condemning" Castle-Hughes. Isaac said that the themes of the movie and the lessons of Christ would urge people to "treat her in a more righteous way." When asked to compare her film to The Passion of The Christ, Hardwicke said she tried to do a more uniting film than Mel Gibson's blockbuster about the last hours of Jesus Christ. "There were some things he did that maybe were a little controversial," Hardwicke said. "We wanted our film to be uniting and make the public see the similarities between religions instead of the differences." Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's Secretary of State, who ranks second only to Pope Benedict in the Vatican hierarchy, said the film is "well done. It re-proposes this event which changed history with realism but also with a sense of great respect of the mystery of the nativity. It is a good cinematic event the judgment is positive." Proceeds from the event will go toward the construction of a school in a village that is some 25 miles from Nazareth, the town of Jesus' childhood. The village, Mughar, whose population includes Christians and Muslims, was one of the Israeli towns hit by rockets fired by Lebanon-based Hezbollah guerrillas over the summer. (Christanity Today) - Forwarded by www.goa-world.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ Cheap talk? Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates. http://voice.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goanet supports BMX, the alumni network of Britto's, St Mary's and Xavier's -- three prominent institutions in Mapusa, Goa. Events scheduled from Dec 16 to 21, 2006 For more details visit http://www.bmxgoa.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------
