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Image provided by: Rochester Regional Library Council
& : ty&&<^$^i;<$#&$!& ^••^^••pCTyyyygyjpjT^ ^ Parish evolution St Augwtine's enters Its 90tfe year as o center of «>mmonfeylnyoK«efneot offer* irtg hoipftality to the needy, the Catholic, ond the physfcoBy and $p*rhu- a8y undernourished. Poge 6. Rebuilding season Sondls In soccer Atgufnas InsrJttfie witt tooktotel>tJdtt«sse43sonwi^onew coo* on the sideline and a stew of un- tested oJoyers on the field. Page 9. .ese of Rochester JOURNAL Panel finds 'Last Temptation of Christ' weak, flawed film By Lee Strong- The Rochester debut of the controversial film The Last Temptation of Christ on August 31 produced a repetition of the anger and emo- tions that have greeted the film in other cities. An estimated 500 protestors marched out- side the Little Theatre, carrying signs and call- ing The Last Temptation blasphemous. On the other hand, reviews in local media praised the movie as a good — even great — film that ex- plores faith and offers an interpretation of the struggle within Christ between his humanity and his divinity. As so often happens in situations that in- vite such divergent opinions, the truth appears to lie somewhere in between. \When you look at a film like this, you have to look at it holisticaUy?' noted David Palma, a third-year deacon candidate who saw the film at the request of the Courier-Journal. \What is the message? How well did it come across?\ Palma, who was one of the founders of the Youtheatre at Nazareth College and who has done graduate and undergraduate work in the- ater, judged the \Last Temptation\ to be at best art average film; but not blasphemous. \Theologically there were many things that I found offensive in it, but I don't think I could label it blasphemous because there is a dis- claimer (at the beginning of the film) that this., is a personal vision. I ddib't feel (director Mar- tin Scorcese) was attacking a group or a cer- tain vision or viewpoint\ At the same time, he acknowledged that \there was probably something to offend everyone in it'' Palma said that as a film, The Last Temp- tation is flawed by flat dialogue, poor writing, uneven acting, confusing characterization and slow pacing. He was also troubled by the gratuitous violence and nudity. \Violence is something Scorcese uses to make points',' Palma noted. \I wouldn't be sur- prised if he wasn't correct in a lot of what he was showing — it was a violent time. I just felt there was too much of it.\ Palma applauded Scorcese for the sense of realism that he created in the film. \(The mov- ie) did pick up a flavor of die time that's differ- ent from typical biblical epics'' he noted. He added, however, that \the nod to realism can be an excuse to go too far, and I think he did.\ On the other hand, the deacon-candidate said that sensationalism in the film \was in conflict with the realism. The sensationalism — such as Jesus pulling his heart out — seemed to come out of nowhere:' 'In terms of the characters, Palma also found a number of portrayals confusing, weak, even offensive. Mary Magdalene; for example, is pic- tured as a prostitute, while contemporary scrip- ture scholars say that Mary and the prostitute (the woman caught in sin) are two distinct characters. He was particularly disturbed by Around the Diocese Page 2 Calendar Page 7 Classifieds Page 11 Columnists Pages 12-13 Editorial & Opinion Page 14 Features Page 6 Sports Pages 9 World & Nation Pages 4-5 35 Ofl 11144701173013 2 Hundreds of protesters picketed the Little Theatre during the Rochester premiere of \The number of people protesting the film and two men (left foreground) protesting the protest. the treatment in the dream sequence of St Paul as a kind of con artist, \because Paul is so im- portant to the history of the early Church?' Although Palma was not offended by Willem Dafoe's depiction of Christ, he thought the performance was weak and poorly delineated. \The portrayal of Christ as con- fused and afraid, someone fighting personal demons, doesn't prepare you for the choice he makes at the end? Palma noted. \The choice (to be crucified) almost doesn't seem to fit the way the character was developed^ The choice comes, out of nowhere. I was expecting more to the resolution!' Palma acknowledged that the film — and , the novel on which it was closely based — was an attempt to make Christ appear more hu- man, but suggested that Scorcese went too far. \I thought (Scorcese) almost had an ax to grind against the other extreme of making the Jesus all-God, all-divine;' Palma said. \I think his vision errs on going to the other extreme. He's gone beyond the line of my personal vi- sion of Christ as a human being!' Mary Rose McCarthy, a social studies teach- er at Nazareth Academy, was also disturbed by the characterization of Jesusr particularly by the depiction of him as tormented by God's BonnfeTrafatet/Couriar-Joumal Last Temptation of Christ.\ Shown here are a call. \I don't think our God calls people into rela- tionship only to torture people?' McCarthy said. \The presence of God in Jesus becomes torturous (in the film). \What's missing from the film is a sense of desire for God, a desire to be one with God, . a desire to grow closer?' she said. \Mystics talk about being filled with fire, but ordinarily in the history of mysticism there's a sense of a great drawing to God. There's no sense of it in here.\ She also called the portrayal of Jesus joy- Continued on Page 3 Two teachers welcome end of trying summer By Teresa A. Parsons Pauline Cleveland and Dianne Wilson have seldom been happier to see the end of summer. Both teachers have suffered an agony of un- certainty since last June, when they lost jobs of 18 years' duration with the closing of St. James School in Waverly. The agony came to an end in mid-August as both teachers accepted positions at St. Mary Our Mother School in Horseheads. \It wasn't a very enjoyable summer?' ac- knowledged Cleveland, who just last year pur- chased a house in Waverly. \I was applying for jobs everywhere. It's hard to get into the public school system with so many years' experience!' Neither teacher wanted to leave the Catho- lic school system or the Southern Tier, but both felt constrained to consider virtually any option after two teaching vacancies for which they applied at nearby St. Patrick's School in Owego were filled — reportedly by recent col- lege graduates — in spite of their tenured sta- tus with the diocese. Wilscjn and Cleveland were dismayed at the decision — especially after learning that a kin- dergarten teacher with one year's experience at St. James had been hired at St. Patrick's, along with Loretta Hayton, who was named to replace St. Patrick's outgoing principal, Sis- ter Mary E. Wintish. Meanwhile, some parents from St. James, outraged by what they regarded as an injustice to Wilson and Cleveland, threatened to start a petition drive urging diocesan officials to in- tervene. Diocesan education officials routinely offer to assist all displaced teachers — especially those who've invested the five years required to earn tenure — in finding new positions with Catholic schools. To date, all but two of the staff members from St. James who expressed interest in continuing to teach in the Catholic school system have been placed: two at St. Mary Our Mother; one at Holy Family Pri- mary in Elmira; and two at St. Patrick's, Owe- go. However, diocesan officials admit that their influence is limited since hiring decisions are made at the local level, usually by principals and pastors. Although the invaluable experience of teachers such as Wilson and Cleveland comes at a bargain price in the diocese, their salaries are a disincentive to Catholic schools struggling Continued on Page 11.
