The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 18

B2 City Region The Boston Globe SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2004 IIIIIIIIIMIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMH Spiritual Life New England in brief Rich Barlow Gibson's 'Passion' a matter of choice A sh Wednesday, traditionally advertised by the forehead thumbprints of black that many Christians i 5 il 11 wear, will arrive Feb. 25 with more fanfare than usual. The start of the Lenten march to Easter will also mark the release of Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ," which some critics say could exacerbate anti-Semitism. Filmmakers have interpreted the Passion since the infancy of pictures flickering on screens. The connecting thread is the inevitability of having to make choices.

Knowledge of the Passion is limitedthe Gospels differ on certain details so any filmed account is selective, a batch of decisions to include some source materials while ignoring others. That point was the foundation of a Boston College forum this week on Passion movies. The Passion According to St. Mel," as the college's fine arts chairman, John Michalczyk, dubbed it, faces the same challenge as previous efforts. While some Gospel elements violence.

The trailers for his "Passion" film suggest he cleaned out the fake blood shelf at the theatrical makeup store; the actor playing Jesus, James Caviezel, is covered in the stuff, having been beaten by a Jewish mob and scourged by the Romans. Cunningham said the scourging, in the script he read, was shown at gruesome length. "He's appealing to a lot of the graphicness in films," said Michalczyk. "This is the creed of entertainment today, part of his appeal to a younger audience." However, there's a countercul-tural reference point as well. Gibson drew on the dreams of a little-known German nun whose visions in the early 1800s portrayed Jesus's suffering as brutally violent and the handiwork of Jews, Cunningham said.

The writer who transcribed her images prefaced his book by saying they weren't literal history an admonition supported by her inaccurate description of the temple, Cunningham said. Moreover, the Vatican has long since disavowed the idea of Jewish culpability; scholars note that crucifixion was a Roman execution. Will all that matter? That, said Cunningham, who received e-mail laced with anti-Semitic venom after criticizing the movie last year, is "problematic." mm run the gamut from satire (Monty Python's 1979 "Life of to all-out camp Christ Vampire Hunter," a kung-fu action treatment from 2001.) Until Gibson, Michalczyk said, the only retelling that spawned major controversy was Scorsese's 1988 film, The Last Temptation of Christ" Portraying a Jesus who contemplates abandoning his mission of salvation to enjoy a human life with a wife and family, the movie offended some by portraying Christ, in a dream sequence, as having sex with Mary Magdalene. One audience doused a screen with ink, and protesters carried crosses across a producer's lawn, Michalczyk said. Americans aren't the only ones intrigued by the story.

A few years ago, "Jesus of Montreal" offered a story about Canadian actors staging a life of Christ, with a stoic Jesus and a sarcastically modern judge in Pontius Pilate who said, "If I tried every fanatic in the Middle East, half the population would die." So what does Gibson's film say about its time? Neither Michalczyk nor Cunningham had seen it, but the latter sat on a panel of scholars that saw an early version of the script, and at the forum, he screened trailers that have appeared on the Internet If there's a prophet who foretold the coming of this film, it's Gibson himself the Gibson of the "Mad Max" and "Lethal Weapon" movies, marked by on-screen WASHINGTON, D.C. VA health services consolidation urged A federal commission recommended yesterday that the government look into consolidating veterans' health care services currently offered at four locations in Greater Boston into one central facility. Such services are currently offered at Veterans Affairs Administration facilities in Brockton, Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury, and the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford. The panel rejected the Bush administration's proposal to change the mission of the Bedford hospital and transfer inpatient care to other nearby facilities. (AP) HARTFORD Ethics panel rules on gift legality The Connecticut Ethics Commission yesterday declared that state officials violate state law if they accept gifts over 100 from employees or anyone doing business with the state.

The commission declined to specifically address Governor John G. Rowland's acceptance of expensive gifts from aides and businesses hired by the state. Instead, the panel postponed action on a separate complaint about the governor's conduct at the request of the US attorney's office, which has subpoenaed documents from Rowland as part of a wider corruption probe. MATTAPOISETT Wareham teenager killed in crash A Wareham High School junior was killed in an automobile accident Thursday night on a Mattapoisett highway and a fellow student is likely to face charges as the driver in the crash, police said. Tanya Borges, 17, was declared dead at the scene on Interstate 195, after the 1997 Hyundai Accent she was riding in swerved and struck tree, said State Police spokesman Scott Schubert The driver, a 16-year-old Wareham High student, sustained serious injuries in the crash and was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, Schubert said.

BOSTON Court rules against Swift on firing More than two years after then-acting governor Jane Swift fired a board member of the Massachusetts TAirnpike Authority over his vote to postpone a toll hike, a federal appeals court ruled Friday that Swift may not be protected from paying monetary damages to him. The 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling vacates a 2002 decision from US District Judge Robert Keeton, who ruled that Swift, as governor, had qualified immunity, or protections against monetary damages, in a lawsuit filed by former turnpike authority member Christy Mihos. A spokesman for Attorney General Thomas Reilly, whose office represented Swift, declined to GLOBE PHOTOJODI HILTON John Michalczyk, fine arts chairman at Boston College, participated in a forum on "The Passion of the Christ." maker has cast the Passion in the values of the era in which the movie was made, reflecting that period's cultural sensitivity "or lack thereof," Michalczyk told listeners before screening clips of selected films. The Greatest Story Ever Told," as the title of a 1965 movie called the Passion events, through the years has drawn the attention of some of the greatest figures in the film industry. Directors from Cecil B.

DeMille to Franco Zeffirelli to Martin Scorsese have weighed in, and film treatments of Jesus have "present a benign view of the role ZJews played in the crucifixion, llxenturies of anti-Semitism have grown from intrepretations of the Gospels that play up Jewish re- sponsibility, said Philip Cunning- ham, head of the college's Center JT" for Christian-Jewish Learning and Michalczyk's copresenter at the fo- rum. The upshot is that each film- Rich Barlow can be reached at rbarlow.81alum. dartmoiith.org. I Eight are left homeless I after East Boston blaze Hanson woman, 21, missing after crash 1 "''l 3 witnessed the fire said the duplexes were close together, making it easy for the fire to spread. "It's a densely populated community; fires spread quickly," Christian said.

"We have to call in a lot of backup to attack them." The firefighters were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital and treated for what were described as minor injuries. "I ran outside. I saw it all, lots of fire," said Chaz Dawson, 11, who was watching the fire with his father. Freddy Lara lives across the street and said he saw the flames shooting through the roof of one building. The fire then spread, he said, to the three-family house next door.

A three-alarm fire engulfed two three-family houses in East Boston last night and left two firefighters injured. One firefighter tumbled off a ladder, struck a parked car, and fell 15 feet to the ground, Fire Commissioner Paul Christian said. Another firefighter was injured as he tried to slide down a ladder propped against a window of one building. The firefighters were attempting a quick exit from intense flames at 296 Meridian St All the residents made it out of the building safely after the fire started at 10:40 p.m., officials said. Eight people were left homeless by the blaze in the densely populated neighborhood.

One resident of the street who comment on the ruling. (AP) Brighton student held on gun charges A 1 7-year-old Brighton High School student was arrested at the school yesterday after he was found carrying a loaded handgun and a black ski mask in his coat pocket, police said. Amenhotep Smith of Dorchester pleaded not guilty in Brighton District Court to an array of firearms charges. Smith was held on $7,500 cash bail. He was suspended at the time of his arrest.

Truck hits overpass, delays commute A truck too tall for overpasses on Storrow Drive slammed into a footbridge during yesterday's morning commute, ripping a 10-by-6-foot section of roof off as the driver kept going before wedging the truck under a second bridge, authorities said. The section of truck roof flew across the median and landed in the center lane of inbound Storrow Drive, causing a single-car accident and injuring the driver, who refused medical treatment, police said. The truck driver, Sathavan Sok, 36, of Lynn, was cited by State Police for driving on an excluded way and leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage. The 7:28 a.m. mishap and accident caused hours of delay on Storrow Drive yesterday morning for inbound and outbound commuters.

SPRINGFIELD Church names interim head for diocese Monsignor Richard Sniezyk was named yesterday to temporarily lead the Springfield Diocese, which has been shaken by allegations that outgoing Bishop Thomas Dupre molested two boys about 30 years ago when he was a parish priest. Sniezyk, 66, has served in a number of positions in the diocese, including vicar general, and had been appointed to oversee the day-to-day management of the diocese since Dupre's resignation earlier this week. Dupre resigned Wednesday, citing declining health, and has been in an undisclosed medical facility since. (AP) Li- AP MAURA MURRAY UM ass-Amherst student message with her son on Monday afternoon that said she wanted to talk to him. Murray and her son met at the US Military Academy at West Point, where both were students, Rausch said.

She left after 1V4 years. Rausch said Murray is an outstanding athlete who ran in high school and college. RELIGIOUS lllllllll IIIIIIMItllllllllllllMllllllltllllllllMIIIIIMIIllllilllHIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllltlHIIIIIIIIIIMKIMIIIMtl 1 1 1 1 1 It 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 II I HUM! WE ie Boston dMok Directory Sunday, February 75 7:45 am Holy Eucharist 9:00 AH Holy Eucharist Church School education lor teens and adults 11:15 am Morning Prayer THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST PAUL (Episcopal) 138 Tremont Boston Opposite Park Street SUNDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2004 8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist 10:00 a.m. Choral Eucharist Th Very Rev John P.

strait jr. Child Care available a.m. Radio broadcast 7:30 am: WCRB 102.5 FM Free parking (Boston Common Garage) www.stpaulboston.orj ASSOCIATED PRESS HAVERHILL, N.H. A missing-person investigation continued yesterday for a young Massachusetts woman who disappeared earlier this week after her second car crash in three days. Police Chief Jeff Williams said the search of the area where Maura Murray, 21, of Hanson, crashed her car into a snowbank last Monday has ended, but the investigation continues.

He said the hope is she will contact a family member or friend, or someone else might see her and call, he said. "We are concerned for her personal welfare. There is no evidence of foul play," he said. "Our concern is that she's upset or suicidal, something the family was concerned about." Murray's boyfriend, Army Lieutenant Bill Rausch, and his family have flown to the state to help. Her family has been passing out fliers with her picture in towns on both sides of the New Hampshire-Vermont state line, hoping someone might have seen her.

"This is very unusual," said Fred Murray, her father. "It's not like her to just take off." Police using dogs and a helicopter and Fish and Game officers searched the immediate area of the accident and found nothing. Murray disappeared after a resident in the area went out to help her and called police, though she asked him not to. When police arrived, she was gone, leaving behind her car, which could not be driven due to the accident The accident occurred on Route 112 about a mile from Swift Water Village and about 5 miles from Wells River, Vt, across the Connecticut River. She was familiar with the area because her family vacationed in the Lincoln and Conway areas for years.

Sharon Rausch, the boyfriend's mother who flew in with her husband, Bill, from Marengo, Ohio, to help, said she had been told Murray "had made arrangements to be away from work for a week." Murray worked at an art gallery while going to nursing school at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where she is a junior, Rausch said. She said Murray crashed her car two days after wrecking her father's car in an accident "She's extremely responsible, an extremely frugal girl. I think she wanted to get away and get her head on straight," Rausch said. "We have no reason to believe she was running away." "She's a jewel of a girl," she said. She Murray left an e-mail 6:00 ftH Holy Eucharist VWt Ik wk hi dtfofc ft patik ofhibp trinitychurchboston.org Ctfity Sqm Epsapd II Mfcam BIN EMI.

Iriaitf boouMp tf My artkilKtwd lean msk Hts Trinity thntk The First Church Of Christ, Scientist, in Boston The Mother Church Massachusetts Huntington Aves. Sunday Service 10:00 a.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday School 10:00 a.m. and 7 p.m.

(up to the age of twenty) Wednesday testimony meetings Noon and 7:30 p.m. Child' care and free parking available Free tours daily. Info 617-450-3790 www.churchofchristscientist.org HARVARD MEMORIAL CHURCH Sunday Worship February 15, 2004 11 A.M. Overwhelmed By Opportunity The Reverend Dr. News Desks Local (617)929-3100 NationalForeign (617)929-3125 Business (617) 929-2903 LivingArts (617) 929-2800 Sports (617)929-3235 Editorial Page (617)929-3025 Switchboard (617)929-2000 Submit a news tip to: localnews globe.com Editors and writers can be reached via e-mail as listed below individual stories.

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Cheryl Rubin Lloyd Sanctuary, Wheelchair accessible. Social Hour Follows Broadcast live WERS 88.9FM Child Care is Provided DZOGCHEN CENTER CAMBRIDGE Lama John Makransky, Associate teacher of Lama Surya Das and professor of Buddhisim at Boston College, will lead meditation on Monday February 16 for Dzochen Center Cambridge at the Cambridge Friends Meeting House, Longfellow Place, off Brattle St at 7 30 pm. Newcomers welcomed. Further teachings: www.cambridgedzogchen.org and www.dzogchen.org KINGS CHAPEL EST 1686 11:00 AM MORNING PRAYER February 15. 2004 The Rev Earl Holt III.

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