They didn’t like it

“(The film’s) violence, which overwhelms the spectator, ends up blotting out the meaning of the Passion and the essence of Christ’s person and message — love carried to its perfection by the voluntary giving of one’s self,” said the bishops.

Noting the film opening in 500 cinemas around France was banned for children under 12, it added: “Isn’t it paradoxical that a film about Jesus cannot be shown to children?”

Leading French Catholics, including Paris Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, have expressed their personal dislike of the film but the bishops’ criticism was the first official statement from the Church hierarchy.