FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEL GIBSON’S THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST AT THE CENTER OF MANHATTAN COLLEGE SYMPOSIUM

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Hollywood screen star and director Mel Gibson has been busy in the spotlight with the release of his latest film, The Passion of the Christ, a movie that has provoked international controversy even several months before its debut.  Manhattan College will host a symposium Monday, March 29 at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the film and its significance.  This event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the College’s Smith Auditorium.

Professor Claudia Setzer of the College’s religious studies department, the Rev. Josephine Cameron of Riverdale Presbyterian Church and Brother Michael Sevastakis, F.S.C., professor of communications at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, intend to focus on providing a critical understanding of the film and discuss the textual basis of Gibson’s interpretation of the death of Jesus.  The discussion also will aim to examine the theological implications of that interpretation and understand the film in the context of other cinematic productions of similar topics.

The program will include a summary of the movie as well as a question-and-answer period.  A reception is scheduled to follow the event.

For further information about this event, please contact Lois Harr at (718) 862-7142 or Jeff Horn at (718) 862-7129.  Members of the press that would like to cover the event, please contact Melanie A. Farmer at (718) 862-7232.   Manhattan College is located at West 242nd Street near Broadway in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, one mile from the Westchester County line and accessible by MTA subway lines 1 and 9.

Manhattan College was founded in 1853 upon the Lasallian tradition of excellence in teaching, inspired by St. John Baptist de La Salle.  Manhattan College is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning offering more than 40 major programs of study in the areas of arts, business, education, engineering and science.  For more information about the College, visit us online at http://www.manhattan.edu.

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