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‘The Chosen’ critics miss a great chance to share the Gospel

I had no intention of viewing “The Chosen“I’ve watched an excessive number of Christian films that you would hesitate to present to a wide audience. Eventually, I ceased viewing them, as I didn’t want to come across as unkind to what I assume are well-meaning individuals and critique it.”

I yielded when a knowledgeable Catholic friend (whom you likely recognize and is a true blessing to the Church) urged me to do so. She found the depiction of the humanity and interactions among the apostles particularly moving. (My phrasing, not hers: “If they can be chosen, perhaps I have a chance!”) And I didn’t feel remorse for violating my informal guideline.

Numerous criticisms have emerged regarding “The Chosen” lately, particularly as it is currently showing in theaters for its fourth season. I concur with certain points raised. I understand that individuals often mix up Jonathan Roumie with Jesus similarly to how they treated Jim Caviezel following “The Passion of the Christ.” We live in a highly visual era, and individuals are experiencing profound pain, making this understandable.

Cardinal Fernández responds to concerns by abuse survivors about astonishing book
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Cardinal Fernández responds to concerns by abuse survivors about astonishing book

(OSV News) — The Vatican’s doctrinal leader informed OSV News that a contentious book he authored over 25 years ago is “inconvenient by modern standards …” and “did not possess the practicality” he had anticipated when he wrote it.

In an email dated Feb. 2, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the leader of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed multiple inquiries from OSV News concerning “La pasión mística: espiritualidad y sensualidad” (“Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality“), released in 1998 when he was still serving as a priest in Argentina.

The DDF prefect informed OSV News that he acquired “the limited copies that were found in a few bookstores and disposed of them.”

The book presented itself as “a call to explore the realm of fervent love that resides in the core of our existence.”

Three chapters of the book specifically address orgasms, with the concluding chapter named “God and the couple’s orgasm.” Additionally, another section narrates the experience of a 16-year-old girl’s “intense meeting with Jesus,” where she touches him on the beach and kisses his lips.