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Talk:The Passion of the Christ/Archive 1

Is it "anti-Semitic" to say that Jews are collectively responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus? Which churches (a) have said or (b) currently say this?

Mel Gibson's upcoming Passion will "lay the blame for the death of Christ where it belongs", according to his friend Gary Giuffre, a traditionalist Catholic. Gibson is a non-traditional Catholic.

--Uncle Ed 15:13 Mar 12, 2003 (UTC)

 * One would need to hold a very narrow view of traditional Catholicism to advance that view; which claims the man who popularized the term Traditional Catholic in 2004 is not indeed a Traditional Catholic.

 * Wikipedia's article on Mel Gibson says he is a traditional Catholic. He built a chapel for the practice of traditional mass. On the set of his religious propaganda film, The Passion of Christ Gibson invited priests to conduct Traditional Mass according to the rituals of St. Pios X. When your self-produced film is promoting a religious sect that covertly embraces terrorists at the same time armys are attacking religious centers of comparable Islamic sects, its difficult to be much more traditionalist Catholic. Hutton Gibson, his father, is a notoriously traditional Catholic who denies he is a holocaust denier because he claims there was no holocaust to deny. "There weren't that many Jews in all of Europe", Hutton Gibson told the New York Times.

[Hutton Gibson with Willis Carto].

DontMessWithThis 21:28, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I can think of one Christian church which makes that statement, you know which. That said, in the Bible, it was Jews who refered Jesus to the Romans, who then followed their laws. Of course, H/h e was actually killed by Roman soldiers. Pakaran.

 * Well, my church has said (a) that all mankind is collectively responsible for the crucifixion; and (b) that the Jewish people should not have crucified Jesus, because he was the Messiah (although Jesus forgave them "because they knew not what they were doing"); but stresses that John the Baptist had the primary responsibility of informing Israel that Jesus the Messiah (it was John's decision to remain separate from Jesus - "He must increase, I must decrease" - which caused the most trouble).

 * I don't think all of the above is relevant to the article on the movie, but it probably should go somewhere. Any ideas, my fellow bureaucrat? --Uncle Ed 14:40, 11 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I removed this line from the article, "Jewish groups reject such statements as false accusations of deicide.". This is because the statement that preceded it was actually a conciliatory one, which did not accuse anyone of anything. DJ Clayworth 14:17, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Gibson originally claimed that this movie was based solely on the New Testament; however it has more recently been revealed that it is inspired by the writings of a 19th-century nun, Anne Catherine Emmerich, who wrote a number of grotesque anti-Semitic caricatures of Jews.

We can't say Gibson originally claimed something unless he has stopped claming it.

 * I don't understand. Gibson did originally make this claim. What he said later on doesn't change what he said in the past. His quotes are on the record as saying that this movie was based solely on the New Testament. Later, when it came out that it was based on someone else's "vision" of the New Testament, his people admitted that this was true.  RK 16:00, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC)

The phrase it has more recently been revealed implies that Wikipedia endorses the other view of how the movie was inspired. Better to say Meir Restenbaum points out several parallels between the screenplay and the writings of... (assuming such parallels do exist, I'd love to see them in the article).

 * No, it doesn't do that at all. It merely states that recently Gibson admitted that this movie was not inspired solely by the New Testament. Mel Gibson and his associates have now stated that their work is also based on a certain nun's mystical revelations. The issue is not that someone saw certain parallels; it is now a fact out in the open that Gibson's script is in part based on this nun's writings. RK 16:00, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Or we could write A anti-defamation league declared, "Gibson's screenplay reeks of the same kind of anti-Semitism as the notorious Emmerich caricatures.

 * See above. Unnecessary. This is no longer a secret, as it was a few months ago. The cat is out of the bag, and to the best of my knowledge no one on Gibson's side denies this. RK 16:00, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Let's not do a whitewash. But let's also be careful about attributing POV. --Uncle Ed 15:43, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * Thanks, RK. I stand corrected. I hope you will add documentation for all that into the article, and restore the repaired text. Good work. --Uncle Ed 16:18, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * Gibson's controversial religious film THE PASSION has been praised as the best adaptation of The Bible in Hollywood history by an acclaimed American reviewer, who is also an orthodox Jew -- Critic Michael Medved spoke on television of his approval of the $25.6 million film, funded entirely by devout Roman Catholic Gibson.

Can we work the above factoid into the article? --Uncle Ed 20:27, 3 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Okay, I'm done for the day. But I wonder if this article is really accurate or balanced.

I'd like to know more about why some Jews fear the final version of the movie will be "anti-Semitic". The ADL's views need amplification.

While waiting for RK to come back and answer this for me, I'll speculate (drawing in part on my own Jewish background): Are these reasons correct? Are they even close?
 * any hint that Jews were "responsible" for Jesus' crucifixion seems like "blaming Jews for the crucifion" -- which many Jews regard as anti-Semitic.
 * any assertion that it was "God's will" for Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah is anti-Semitic.

 * I disagree with the second statement, as someone who actually sees fairly minor differences between Christians and Jews. I was brought up Christian btw.  If a Jew says it is "God's will" for nonpracting/familial Jews to keep Kosher, is that anti-Christian?  I comment above about "blame".  Judas was a Jew, but I'd say that the Romans, or prophecy, or the need for redemption, are all more responsible than Jews were according to the Bible.  Is that statement anti-God, since He required redemption?  Pakaran. 21:31, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

The Move

I'm not sure this article should have been moved like this. I presume the maove was made because this is the technically correct name of the movie. However the article also contains references to other movies, plays etc. whose title is The Passion. I suggest that The Passion needs to reference these, and contain a link to The Passion of Christ, rather than just being a redirect.

DJ Clayworth 15:05, 17 Oct 2003 (UTC)

I have to ask: what the flippin' 'eck does Gibson's father have to do with the movie? He didn't work on it, right? Gibson himself has never said anything to indicate that he shares his father's beliefs about the Holocaust, right? So why is this even worthy of mention? Please advise. I've edited it to make clear that Gibson has given no indication that he shares his father's loony views, but I'd like to remove this section entirely. --Mirv 10:37, 6 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * You are incorrect. Gibson's refuses to contradict his father's views. If you carerfully read Mel Gibson's statements, you will find that in most cases, he agrees with his father, and tries to cast his father's views in a favorable light, without denying them. For example, his father is a Holocaust denier. Gibson refused to contradict his father, and claimed that his Dad's position is not really Holocaust denial, because his Dad is just questioning statisitics. That is intellectually dishonest; it is the very basis of Holocaust denial itself. If you read Holocaust denual literature you will find the exact same statements. Gibson also explicitly supports his father's anti-Catholic Church stance, and supports the breakaway traditional Catholic movement. This movement itself is seen as having an anti-Semitic undertone, as many of its adherents (including Hutton) believe that "the Jews" now control the Catholic church, and must be fought against. RK 14:20, Dec 6, 2003 (UTC)
 * A: Not disagreeing with someone does not mean that one agrees with him. B: Did you consider the possibility that Gibson didn't want to badmouth his father in public -- that his defense was based on filial loyalty rather than intellectual agreement? C: as for the stuff about Gibson's sect, well, I'll look into that and see how explicitly he supports the anti-Semitic aspects of it. --Mirv 14:29, 6 Dec 2003 (UTC)

most Semitic-looking Jesus
"Jim Caviezel portrays perhaps the most Semitic-looking Jesus ever on film"

What are the qualifications? Dark hairs, eyes..?.. And? Is this a stereotype? --Menchi ( Talk ) 06:27, 8 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Their seem to be some fake quotes, with fake references in the article. 205.188.209.74 Appears to have vandalized The Passion of the Christ on 18:41, 21 Dec 2003 (See []). Dbabbitt 17:42, 3 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Alleged Endorsement from JP2
I removed the following: '' including Pope John Paul II who praised the film and wrote of its accuracy, "It is as it was." ''

The comments attributed to Pope John Paul II are baseless and he ‘‘told no one his opinion.’’ says Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz who viewed the film with JP2. Usedbook 20:25, 15 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Father Hallinan, perhaps facetiously, claimed that the film focuses too much on Roman responsibility.

"Perhaps facetiously"? Come on. I don't believe the NPOV means we have to be so humour impared that we can't acknowledge sarcasm and irony when it stares us in the face. The whole paragraph that contains this needs to be rewritten. As it stands, it comes off like it was written by someone who failed to get the rather obvious joke. ShaneKing 04:22, 17 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Removed stuff about Mel Gibson's father. I suggest moving it to either the article on Hutton Gibson himself, or Mel Gibson. DJ Clayworth 04:33, 17 Feb 2004 (UTC)

All of this Irrelevant
Is it really relevant to include a piece on Gibson's religious views, whatever they are? Or whether it departs from accepted religious views? Every single portrayal of Jesus on film has done this in one way or another. It's a review of an artistic creation! - this is an article about a new movie - please let the viewer make up her or his mind after seeing the film. I'm inclined to delete the last two paragraphs but one.

Agendum 00:45, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

-

A small critique
I just wanna say I saw the movie today and it shaked my bones. Interesting enough, although it was one of the best movies Ive ever seen, I dont wanna see it again. Its just an experience.

Antonio Shake Rattle and Roll Martin

Historical and factual criticism
I'm concerned about this section now, now that I've seen the movie. Basically, I didn't really see the first or last points in the movie at all. The first one basically states that nails alone wouldn't be able to support somebody, but the movie doesn't depict this. Rather, it depicts nails and rope together. The last point talks about the height of the cross, which also didn't seem to be accurate based on what I saw in the movie. The cross seemed to be about nine feet long or so, ample to support a human and the necessary space in the ground to keep it upright. The second point I can't really attest to. RadicalBender 07:11, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * I added that section based on pre-release notes. Regarding the nails, I'd have to watch the movie closely to see if the ropes were meant as primary support, or as temporary restraints. Regarding the height of the cross, a cross needs both underground, and aboveground, height. The actor is roughly six feet tall (6'2"), the footage I've seen shows additional suspension of something similar to his height, so, to reach the ground, it should be around 12 feet. To support the weight, usually a third of a fencepost (with no upper weight) should have at least a third buried, so, the post should have been at least 18 feet tall. If he was only being held a mere 3 feet off of the ground, that would be a nine-foot above ground cross, or a 13 1/2 foot cross carried. Ronabop 09:52, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * Having seen the movie, I remember Jesus' feet being at about head height; say five feet above ground. Also his knees were bent, so feet to head he was probably about five feet. To me the cross looked like it could easily have been twelve or more feet high, giving us at least a couple of feet to put in the ground. Also the cross appeared to be embedded in rock, and could have had additional support round the base. Plus let's put this in context; every other movie in the world takes liberties with the size of props. It's part of the trade. DJ Clayworth 14:32, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Violence
This is the most violent film I have ever seen. Roger Ebert

 * That should be attributed to him as POV, and added to the article. That said, is it more violent than, say, A Clockwork Orange?  I haven't seen TPoTC.  Pakaran. 20:57, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I'll let you know Monday, if I survive watching The Passion of the Christ this weekend. Ebert said it would have gotten an NC-17. --Uncle Ed 21:25, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Herod
"Herod is portrayed as a mincing, lisping effeminate homosexual, complete with a toy-boy. This is the traditional caricature from Medieval Passion Plays, does not appear in the Bible, and is historically inaccurate."

 * Herod died about 3-4 BC, IIRC, which makes him historically difficult to portray, but perhaps a description such as "Herod is portrayed as a mincing, lisping, effeminate, individual, complete with a male companion." would play less into wikipedia being a source of stereotypes. Not all mincing, lisping, effemintate men are actually gay. Europe in the 1700's, for example, has lots of mincing, lisping, effeminate straight men who hung out with other men.Ronabop 12:28, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * You're thinking of Herod the Great (died around 4BC) who is the Herod from the time of Jesus birth. This Herod is Herod Antipas his son. DJ Clayworth 13:41, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * Was either Herod even in the movie? I just saw it, and I don't recall seeing Herod, and I certainly don't remember a "mincing, lisping, effeminate homosexual, complete with a boy-toy". -Branddobbe 06:56, Mar 2, 2004 (UTC)

 * yup, Herod Antipas was there. He was the heavyset, mascara'd guy who eventually said "Take this fool out of my sight" because Jesus wouldn't even speak a word to him. JDG 07:41, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Having now seen this movie, I have removed some chunks of the article. First I removed the sentence criticising it for adding the character of Caiaphas' wife; Caiaphas' wife does not appear.

I also removed the section that criticised the movie for using a 'finely milled' cross, and putting nails in the hands. I removed it because the cross in the movie is a 'rough hewn' cross (exactly what the paragraph said it should be) and because the movie uses a combination of nails and rope on the hands (exactly what the paragraph said it should). The same paragraph, which was added by one person, also contained criticisms of the sizeof the cross, but given the first two inaccuracies I saw no reason to trust that the third was correct. DJ Clayworth 13:36, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * I was that "one person", and after having seen the movie today, I was coming back to edit and delete material. Since the rope was fairly tightly bound at the wrists, it's theoretically possible to combine both the rope and the nails as a form of support (through the rope would make the nails redundant devices of torture, but this movie was highlighting torture, so it works artistically, if a total waste of Roman time and effort (and metal!) in killing a person via crucifixtion).

 * As far as the squaring and milling of wood 2000 years ago, I laughed out loud when I saw the "tall table" (obviously much more modern technology) in the movie. When I was referring to rough hewn, I was thinking of log cabin rough, growing olive-tree rough. It wouldn't make much sense for the romans to bother making large sections smooth, semi smooth, or even bother with removing much (or any) bark, as long as "piece one" fit into "piece two" well enough to asphixiate a guy when his legs were eventually broken, and the pieces could be raised. Why would the romans, as in the movie, make a flat, squared, mitered, joined, pre-drilled, whole t crucifix, just to kill common thieves and murderers?

 * Before I saw the movie, I was also going to add a section about lintels and Tau (T) crosses, and X (spead-eagle) crosses, but I noted that the christ character got his own, special, wood to carry, the other two just had to carry a lintel. (Tau lintels being more efficient, because the condemned just had to be lifted up onto a pre-planted support spike). Again, this matches with the artistic license taken in the movie. (Hero characters often have cars that don't get scratched, guns that don't run out of bullets, and bigger burdens than their peers).

 * Addressing the height of the cross, It was all over the place. I assume they used several crosses, as the bark on the cross jumped around, the height jumped around. I guess it's possibly no more relevant to the piece than the inconsistant eye-colorations, and there is, perhaps, an argument to be made for poetic license. If the cross used was always the same cross, it would have been too heavy for any one man to physically carry, which would have broken a common theme in the story (though that sentiment is part of the story).

 * Anyways, thanks for the fixes and cleanups. It was based on an article about pre-release observations and guesses, and badly needed revision. Ronabop 09:01, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC)

The article page is an orphan!
And I wonder if anybody is even reading it. I did a search on Google and didn't find it. Seems silly writing an article that only wiki editors read, lol ChessPlayer 15:55, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * Is there a joke I missed here, ChessPlayer? DJ Clayworth 20:28, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Will anyone object if I remove the 'anecdotal evidence' on the grounds that it is, well, anecdotal evidence? DJ Clayworth 17:51, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Time to split this article?
Is it time to split this article into two articles, one following the film itself, and the one focusing on the popular culture's reaction to the film? - Bevo 17:00, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * I would say don't, because in a few months this article is going to stop growing anyway. DJ Clayworth 17:55, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I haven't seen the film, but...
Does the letter to the editor we quote about the high schooler saying "I hate the Jews" feel credible to anyone? It looks to me exactly like the sort of thing someone would make up in order to discredit the film. I say this as someone who hasn't seen it, and may very well hate it -- no idea. But the letter just seems too perfect, doesn't it? The daughter of Holocaust survivors happens to have a girl, in 1st period, Monday morning, who in three sentences gets to blatant prejudice? As a high school teacher myself, I can assure you, most kids do not come out with controversial feelings so blatantly, and certainly not so quickly. Ok, sure, we can hide behind "we're just reporting what the letter claimed", but frankly, I think it a far too unreliable source for us to put it in here. Will there be an outcry if I remove it? Jwrosenzweig 17:58, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * I'd prefer it in an ==External link== form, with the actual text of the letter in the linked resource. - Bevo 18:00, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Sadly, only available to subscribed users.....although I don't see any indication from the latimes.com site that the letter we quote from is even there today! The index mentions a letter about The Passion, but says nothing about high schooler reaction or Anti-Semitic fallout.  The letter we quote may be entirely false! Jwrosenzweig 18:05, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Look at to check me, but it doesn't look like this letter is there today. Jwrosenzweig 18:06, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Note: the "anecdotal evidence" DJ refers to above is the letter I am challenging. I'm assuming that means he agrees.  Since Bevo wants it linked externally (which we can't do) and DJ wants it cut, I'm going to cut it and move the text here -- that way it can be moved back if we decide we want that (though I certainly don't). Jwrosenzweig 18:08, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * Letter text and the response paragraph that I (Jwrosenzweig) cut from the article: A letter writer to the Los Angeles Times (3/3/04) provided some anecdotal evidence that the film does indeed have the effect of fostering ethnic hatred. Her brief letter is quoted in full:

 * "I am a high school teacher and the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Monday morning, Period 1, a student, age 17, comes into my room.  She asks if I had seen the film 'The Passion'.

 * I answer: "No."

 * She continues, 'It was so sad. I cried so much.  I hate the Jews.'

 * Very, very, sadly, that tells the whole story, Mr. Gibson."

 * It should be noted that this case, assuming it is true, involves just one teenager. No controlled studies have yet been carried out to determine the effect of the film on young people in general.
 * Jwrosenzweig 18:11, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * Hi JWR,

 * I'd not worry about whether the letter was made up by Opus33. Hard copies of the Los Angeles Times get sent to university libraries and news shops all over, so it would be pretty hard to put one over like that.  I've attached a digital image of the printed letter to your discussion page to reassure you on this point.

 * You also mentioned the possibility that the person who wrote the letter is somehow a rabble-rouser, who made up the story herself. I feel this is unlikely, and that it's more plausible that she (and perhaps also the LA Times editors) distilled a longer conversation into its essence.

 * You're right that we can't verify the letter's claims, and I'm hardly bent out of shape that you removed it. I'm more concerned with the letter itself, which I tend to think is authentic and disturbing.

 * I appreciate your scholarly vigilance and hope you will continue to exercise it. Regards, Opus33 02:20, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * The point, though, is that this is exactly one instance. And we know nothing about the background. Maybe this teenager was a KKK member, and already hated Jews. Anecdotes have a definite place in a newspaper letters page: not in an encyclopedia.

DJ Clayworth 14:17, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Isn't the Denver Church which posted a "Jews Killed the Lord Jesus! Settled!" sign perfectly verifiable? - Nunh-huh 02:28, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)

So is his follow-up sign:"I am deeply sorry for offending the Jewish people, whom I love.". DJ Clayworth 14:18, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * I count myself fortunate in not having to rely on that particular pastor's definition of love. -- Nunh-huh 01:54, 5 Mar 2004 (UTC)

"The woman taken in adultery is certainly not Mary Magdalene". How do we know? The woman is unnamed, as you say, so how do we know who it is? There is certainly a long tradition saying they are the same. DJ Clayworth 20:41, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * I can't claim any particular scholarship on this, but I did some fact checking before adding the statement that seems to bear it out. The biography of MM in the Catholic Encyclopedia is very detailed and makes no mention of her as the woman about to be stoned. Another site I visited, apparently of an American Protestant pastor, specifically stated MM was not this woman. Also, it's a matter of logic. MM had been a prostitute when she was inspired by Jesus and became part of his general entourage. It is not likely she had a husband. The woman taken in adultery, obviously, was married. Also, if MM was enough of a recognized personage to merit a mention by name in all four Gospels when they recount those present at the crucifixion, why wouldn't they have mentioned her name if she was the one about to be stoned... But I'll look into it more. JDG 23:15, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Moved from article (was in the section on details that are not in the Gospels):

 * Furthermore for catholics it is not necessary to have all details in the Bible, because the final revelation of God is taken from the Bibel and the oral Apostolic Tradition (till the death of the last Apostle). Therefore this discussion is also touching the fondaments of Christian faith.

As I said in the edit summary, this seems to be accurate, but I can't quite make sense of it, and this article isn't the place to discuss or dispute variations of Christian doctrine anyway. (And do Sr. Emmerich's visions have the official seal of approval?) --67.69.188.153 11:12, 5 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * there are three elements many Jews and others who have faulted the movie take issue with. First, although the movie depicts both Jews and Romans assaulting and battering Jesus, the vast majority of screen-time is devoted to depicting Jewish violence. Second, many Jews, such as the High Priest, are portrayed as physically ugly, perhaps drawing on stock anti-Semitic stereotypes of Jews. Gibson has explicitly stated that the movie assumes, and is meant to portray, all humanity as charing guilt for Jesus's torture and death, which leads to the third, more subtle point. Gibson is not the first artist who has hoped to communicate this shared burden. Johann Sebastian Bach was presumably aware of anti-Jewish uses of passion plays, and when he composed the St. Matthew Passion he chose to have the entire chorus, rather than one group, cry out for Jesus's crucifiction. Gibson's movie, however, highlights the role of the Jewish leadership, and portrays Pilate as a thoughtful, temperate man who ultimately agrees to crucify Jesus because he cannot stand up to Jewish pressure. Pilate shares in guilt, but his guilt is more that of a moral coward than an active persecuter of Jesus. For many Jews, the portrayal of Jews in the movie can only be understood relative to the portrayal of Pilate, and Gibson's account is a perversion of history. Historical sources make it clear that Pilate was a greedy, choleric, and cruel tyrant who readily executed any Jewish rebel. For many Jews, it is painful to see a portrayal of Roman-Jewish relations where Roman leaders bow to the interests of Jewish leaders, when the opposite was the case, and where the Romans, oppressors of Jews, are presented as more sympathetic than the Jews they oppressed.

I'm glad that there's finally some explanation of why this movie was seen as anti-Semitic; however, there are some inaccuracies in the above which need addressing.

First: though the screen time of the Temple guards beating up Jesus may be longer than the time given to the Roman violence (I doubt it, but I didn't bring a stopwatch), I don't think it matters. The horrifyingly graphic, painful-to-watch acts of violence -- the scourging, the Via Dolorosa, and the crucifixion -- are all perpetrated by Roman soldiers, who, as Romans would, think it's all great fun. Did any of the people raising this complaint actually watch the movie?

Second: a fair comment, as too many of the Bad People (aside from Satan) are grotesque caricatures; however, not all the Jewish characters fit the description, and the same could be said of the Romans (one of them is even credited as "Brutish Roman soldier".)

Third: This is an excellent point, and I think Gibson slipped up in not depicting Caiaphas' very good reason for wanting Jesus dead. The Gospel of John, whose writer probably knew Caiaphas quite well, portrays him as being (quite rightly) afraid of what the Romans would do if Jesus or his followers started a violent revolt, as had some of the other wandering preachers of the era; Gibson left that out, instead showing Pilate as being afraid of what the Emperor would do to him in the event of another Judaean uprising. (The depiction of Pilate is however faithful to the Gospel accounts, which while they might be accurate in showing him to be apathetic and ignorant about internal Jewish theological disputes, do ignore his incompetence, corruption, and cruelty, which are all amply demonstrated in other records. In my opinion at least, Pilate probably would not have any reservations about executing a troublesome itinerant Galilean.)

--67.69.188.153 20:04, 7 Mar 2004 (UTC)

A few comments. If you add up the time spent by the Romans in flogging Jesus, plus the time spent torturing him while he carries his cross, plus the time spent nailing him to the cross, I would be astonished if the screen time of Romans brutalising Jesus was less than the Temple guards. The Romans took over from the Temple guards way less than half way through the movie. All of the above also ignores the sympathetic portrayal of other Jews; Jesus followers and mother are of course Jews, but additionally there is a very sympathetic portrayal of Simon of Cyrene, the Jewish man who carried Jesus' cross. He got much more screen time than a minimally literal adherence to the gospel narrative would require, and comes over as very sympathetic. The Jewish woman who runs out to wipe Jesus' brow looks like a pretty positive portrayal to me. In the trial before the Jewish leaders, at least one of the Jewish leaders is heard denouncing the proceedings (if I remember correctly) as outrageous. While the crowd before Pilate is hostile to Jesus, it is portrayed as an orchestrated mob under the control of Caiphas' faction, not representitive of the people as a whole. The crowd that watches Jesus on the way to the cross shows much more of a mixed reaction; some people in it, presumably Jews and not just Jesus' followers, are clearly horrified and disgusted. None of these portrayals are the actions of a director trying to to place guilt on an entire race. DJ Clayworth 03:45, 8 Mar 2004 (UTC)

More the the "Mary Magdalene" question above. A little research reveals that most scholars do indeed think it unlikely that Mary Magdalene and the woman taken in adultery were the same person. However it is not impossible. Firstly, the Gospels do not record the Mary M was a prostitute, though it's a common tradition I believe. Second, it's far from impossible that a married person is a prostitute. In fact I believe that women who leave their husbands for any reason often had few options when it came to making money. Third, you don't have to be married to commit adultery - all you have to do is sleep with someone who is married.

Anyway, logic aside, I think this is just Gibson making use of a little dramatic license. It seems a reasonable device for contrasting Jesus' forgiving teaching with the unforgiveness of those crucifying him. DJ Clayworth 04:01, 8 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Language rumor

 * This has led to criticisms of the film's historical accuracy, with many scholars pointing out that the Roman soldiers in Judea would have spoken mainly Greek, not Latin.

Two different laymen I met have made the same remark. I wonder where they heard this, because there's no historical basis for it. Did some film reviewer or other advocate who hates the movie start this rumor?

 * "Latin was spoken by the Roman soldiers occupying the region. Greek was spoken throughout the Roman Empire, thanks to Alexander the Great, but was seen as a sign of secularization and thus resisted by many Jews."

The only sources I've found who make the "Greek" claim are in blogs; I don't think these should be cited as scholarly references. Maybe we can use blogs to show what non-scholars think. ''A lot of people seem to think that Roman soldiers would have spoken Greek. Scholars generally maintain that they would have spoken Latin.'' --Uncle Ed 14:33, 11 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Update: I did some more googling, and found a trend: reviewers who hated the movie said, in effect, not only that but the language was not authentic. None of them offered any proof of the "Roman soldiers spoke Greek" claim; they merely added this to their one-sided lists of reasons why the movie was awful.

Someone who knows ancient Rome, please comment. --Uncle Ed 14:48, 11 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes, Ed, I too have read many reviews that make this claim (that the soldiers spoke Greek), although frankly it seems like a pretty trivial point. But you seem very convinced that in fact they spoke Latin.  I am not saying you are wrong, but how can you be so sure? Slrubenstein

 * I probably wasn't clear enough: I meant that the phrase many scholars pointing out isn't borne out by my research. Rather, it should be "many negative reviewers claimed..." I need help researching this, or at least deciding how to phrase the uncertainty.

 * How about, "Several reviewers knocked the film for having the Roman soldiers speak Latin rather than Greek."?

 * We could also mention that the linguistic scholar Mel hired, said that Roman soldiers generally spoke Latin.

--Ed

Their Latin
I have also heard complains about it not being Greek. What shocked me was that they pronounce in "Romance". Say "Caesar" is pronounced with "che". Isn't 33 AD too early for this pronunciation? Even the Aramaic lines had "kaisar". On the other hand, I read that the Jesuit assessor trained the actors especifically in Vulgar Latin. So, is the C+e|i pronunciation historically correct? -- Error 02:45, 10 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * I've also seen that, its based on modern Italian, which is unreliable, I realized that some actors where Italian, and they have a tendence to speak the Italian way - the "che" thing is theirs. But Romance has been allways the spoken language, the Classical Latin was used for writing (we do the same thing today with Portuguese, we speak and write somewhat differently, even grammar as some difference, and today we have school and TV). If not, it was Classical Latin that would spreed. By the way, I realized the normal Anglo-saxon accent that finds difficult to express in other languages and, at times, they seemed to have a potatoe in their mouth. Eheh. Latin was speed in the western part of the Empire and became a native language! In the east, Greek became the native language, that doesnt mean that the Roman soldiers would speak Greek in there. About the "i" sound, I think is somewhat correct in the "AE" e.g. "INSTITVTAE" (read as instituti). But the C+e no way!
 * By the way, when I was watching the movie, people spoak a language that a guy like me doesnt understand (aramaic), and a roman solders says: "Idiota" That astonishes everyone, because is the sound is the same as in Portuguese and some many other words where too. It is a good movie for educational issues, to people realize where their language came from. Altought, I believe everyone, knows who the Romans where, and their importance. I'll try to investigate on this thing. Nevertheless, It's a good movie and reliable. Its is spoken in the real languages, it as an human factor, etc. That's Excelent. And unexpectly, is from Hollywood. By the way, I'm not catholic, I was raised as one (intensibly), but changed my position (tought I like catholic parties, we have a lot and they are great) but I think that the Jew observations that where made when the movie was launched as very sad and dangerous to democracy and freedom.Pedro 11:27, 13 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Their Italian accents were ridiculous and spoilt the film.   — Chameleon My page/My talk 10:35, 11 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Language rumour redux
Ed's proposed wording is good; by all means cite the varying opinions on the language spoken by the Roman soldiers, preferably with a note that the question is not at all settled and probably never will be. Here's some relevant background:

First, the garrison in neighbouring Syria, which was the center of Roman power in the area, was made up of four crack regular legions: III Gallica, VI Ferrata, X Fretensis, and XII Fulminata. Had Pilate's soldiers belonged to any of these legions, they would have spoken Latin; since the Roman governor in Judaea was subordinate to the legate in Syria, his soldiers may well have been detachments of the Syrian garrison. The relevant passage of Josephus says that they carried Caesar's standards, which hints that they were part of a regular legion; auxiliary legions often (but not always) retained their native arms, clothing, insignias, etc.

Had Pilate's troops been non-Roman auxiliaries, which is also possible, they might have spoken either Greek or Latin amongst themselves: both were common enough among auxiliary troops. The officers would have been Latin-speaking Roman citizens in any case.

A third and quite plausible possibility, as pointed out by Slrubenstein below, is that both guesses are correct; the Romans spoke Latin amongst themselves and Greek to others. Pilate himself certainly knew and used both languages; his coins are marked in Greek, while stones from his buildings are inscribed in Latin.

In any case, I'm not aware of any conclusive evidence -- barracks graffiti, military payrolls, battle standards, written descriptions, etc. -- to which one could point as irrefutable proof. It seems that only nitpicking historians (like me) and people with axes to grind really care which language the soldiers spoke. HTH, and let me know if there are any other questions about this issue.

(If anyone can figure out how to trim the above into a few sentences and integrate it in the proper section of the article, I would be most grateful. :-) --67.71.76.166 14:41, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)

If Mel hired a decent linguist (and why wouldn't he) then it seems likely that the Latin-speaking at least represents a reputable viewpoint. My understanding (based on Paul Maier) was that Reomans would indeed have spoken Latin to each other - but that 'Roman' soldiers, especially the lower ranks, might well have been auxiliaries recruited from the outlying parts of the Empire, and thus not speak Latin. DJ Clayworth 14:45, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Greek and soldiers
From what i know of my readings, and after consulting my father (a retired Latin and Greek Prof), i can tell you that i dont think that the majority of the soldiers spoke greek. That is true for the late Roman army, when soldiers were mostly already non Roman (ie from Romanized provinces). In the 30s the Empire was just starting so most of the legionaries were Italian born. So: except for the auxiliary troops (mostly gaul and lybian at the time) the troops would speak Latin amongst themselves. As for the possibility of speaking in Greek to the others, not very peobable, because greek was common for a Roman to know, but an upper class Roman. Maybe the officers, but i dont think regular troops. Muriel 16:51, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Details not in the Gospels
As part of the relentless campaign to discredit the movie for supposed "historical inaccuracies", someone created a dozen "not in the Gospels" bullet points and only 4 or 5 "yes this is right" points. It's actually the other way around. There are hundreds of details Mel Gibson copied exactly from the Gospel accounts. Far too numerous too mention. Why the one-sided comparison?

 * Possibly because the gospels, reading aloud, word for word, of the same events, takes less than 20 minutes. Which doesn't make for a great movie. Great movies require visual invention, symbolism, and doing such things as taking a single line of text (he was whipped) and turning it into a gore-fest of spraying blood, laughing guards, and ripping flesh.

 * Possibly because the gospels leave out so much detail that depiction mandates invention. What clothes did they wear (what's with the cotton?)? What happened in day or night? What did bread look like? What's the deal with the lips of Judas? What's with the dead animal near Judas in the movie? Did Judas die of self hanging or spontaneous gut explosion?

 * Why is so much of MMLJ left out (sins be upon us, rooster crow outside the inner temple walls, temple viel splitting)? Perhaps that could be a good section to add. Or, you could add to (or create) an accuracies section.

 * I'd make a rough estimate that 90% of the movie running time is modern invention, maybe 10% is in the gospels. So folks interested in the gospels start to note the inventions, and make comments. Ronabop 09:40, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Mary Magdalene?

 * Mary Magdalene is portrayed as the "woman taken in adultery" about to be stoned by a group of Jews who were then dissuaded by Jesus' famous "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" statement. In the Gospels this woman is unnamed.

Article should mention that, traditionally, many Christians have identified the woman Jesus saved from stoning, as Mary Magdalene. The text above makes it sound like Gibson simply made this up out of his own head: it's not in the Gospels, so the movie must be wrong, eh?

--Uncle Ed 21:15, 11 Mar 2004 (UTC)

My understanding is that Roman soldiers and officials, like Pilate, would have spoen Latin among themselves. But they probably used Greek to speek to the Jews and gentiles living in Judea, who almost certainly did not speak Latin. In The Passion, what language do Romans use when speaking to Jews? Slrubenstein

 * The only Hebrew word I know is shalom, and I didn't hear it spoken in the movie. I heard one Roman soldier call another an "idiot" in Latin, though. If you can bear the emotional strain of seeing the movie yourself, there's a scene where a Roman soldier orders a bystander to help Jesus carry the cross; I wonder what language that conversation was conducted in. Maybe Aramaic?

 * One thing this movie might do is arouse general interest in the history of Israel of that period. --Uncle Ed 13:29, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * Maybe. What it did for me was inspire interest the way Traditionalist Catholic charities compare with the Islamic charities implicated in funding terrorism. What I found was Gibson buddied up with a bunch of Knightly Orders that quitely funnel money into radical organizations including anti-abortion terrorists and neo nazi organizations. The feds evidence for seizing funds of Islamic charities is no stronger than evidence that traditionlist catholics have been involved with right-wing terrorists in the United States. Gibson's 10 minute scourging bothered me none at all. I figure he deserved it. DontMessWithThis 14:54, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * (Watching intently for a twitch in the corner of DMWT's mouth) Catholic terrorists? Y'all are putting us on, right? Pollinator 16:37, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Not in the least. We have identified traditional Catholic connections to most of the non-environmentalist domestic terrorism events of the 1990s, including the clinic murders, the clinic bombings and the Oklahoma City bombing. From the Maltese passports of 1945 to the anti-abortion terrorism of today, some proponents of traditional Catholicism have placed their caring hand in the lap of several terrorist organizations. The Chevaliers de Notre Dame (de Sion) deliver secret funding to anti-abortion groups, Bishop Richard Williamson was quite overt in his support for neo-Nazis, and Fr. Juan Fernandez Krohn tried to stab the pope in a religiously motivated assassination attempt. Radical traditional Catholics cross pollinate with members of the protestant Christian Identity movement to provide counsel and refuge for those who attack abortion providers.

 * DMWT, don't stretch too hard to pull facts to your agenda-- somethin's gonna snap, you might injure yourself. In the last 100+ years the greatest perpetrators of murder and atrocity have belonged to one of two camps: 1) The Hitler/Stalin school of areligious 'beyond good and evil' despotism, and 2) The Bin Laden Islamist school of "Let's blow up everybody in the world who's not down with Shar'ia law'. Hitler and Stalin despised Christianity, Bin Laden despises Christians. Any unprovoked, unjustified aggression carried out by your "Catholic terrorists" is approximately a teaspoon to the ocean of what these non-Christian freakazoids have done. Some earlier epochs in the moral history of the churches weren't too grand, but the last century has been one of the most morally unimpeachable runs of any culture of any time. JDG 20:37, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * Maybe you should read up on your history. If I do the maths the muslim extremists by far haven't aggressed as much as the free world did in countries such as Vietnam, Nicaragua and Iraq. Or would you place Nixon and Bush I and II in the first camp? Gu@k@ 14:03, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * If I had more direct evidence I would make it into an article. Both Moslem and Catholic clerics provide spiritual direction and funding for terrorists but keep their hands clean by avoiding participation in tactical planning of terrorist acts. But the evidence against some sects of traditional Catholics is no less direct than the evidence against Moslem charities. Evidence suggests the government went with a lone-bomber case in Oklahoma City because to develop one more investigative thread would have led investigators straight to the crossroads where Christian Identity believers and radical traditional Catholics cross paths. DontMessWithThis 17:14, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I've just read nice critic by rabin Lapin, who asked, why accuse Gibson about anti-semitism, when the same people when ignoring catholics when they feeel offended by movies ("The priest" etc) directed by Jewish directors/produced or distributed by Jewish distributors/producers? Kind a double morality, isn't it? Or freedom of speach and artistic expression is only limited to anti-catholic rants? Szopen


text:
List of Jewish ethnonyms

An ethnonym is the name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (where the name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms or endonyms (self-designation; where the name is created and used by the ethnic group itself). This article does not cover ethnic slurs.

Obsolete
Jews were often called (and occasionally called themselves) Palestinians, but after the emergence of Arab Palestinian nationalism and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the term "Palestinians" came to be used almost exclusively for Palestinian Arabs. (See Definitions of Palestinian)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: List of Jewish ethnonyms


text:
Chrism

Chrism, also called myrrh, myron, holy anointing oil, and consecrated oil, is a consecrated oil used in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, Nordic Lutheran, Anglican, and Old Catholic churches in the administration of certain sacraments and ecclesiastical functions.

Name
The English chrism derives from Koine Greek via Latin and Old French. In Greek, khrîsma (χρῖσμα) was originally the verbal noun ("(the act of) anointing", "unction") of χρίειν ("anoint"). By extension, along with khrîma (χρῖμα), khrîstai (χρῖσται), and later khrísma (χρίσμα), it came to be used for the anointing oil or ointment itself. Khrísma came into Latin as chrisma, which appears in the works of Tertullian. This was adopted directly into Old English as crisma, which developed into Middle English crisme and various related spellings. In Old French, the original Latin was conflated with cramum ("cream"), developing into cresme, which was also borrowed into Middle English around 1300 as creme and various related spellings. The spelling chrism after the Latin original was generally adopted in the 16th century, after which "cream" came to be restricted to its present meaning.

The Proto-Indo-European root from which the Greek term derived has been reconstructed as *ghrei- ("to trickle"). This is cognate with Sanskrit ghṛtə (घृत, from the radix घृ (भासे / क्षरणे / छादने), which means to shine / to trickle / to cover) and Hindi ghī (घी, "ghee"), as well as Lithuanian gr(i)ejù, griẽti ("skimming"), Middle Low German grēme ("grime"), Old English grīma ("mask, helm, spectre", presumably from an original sense of "covering" or "concealment"), English grime, and possibly Phrygian gegreimenan ("painted, ornamented, inscribed").

Chrism is also called Myron or myrrh. Myron is an oil that is blessed by a bishop.

Early Christian usage
Multiple early Christian documents discuss the "ordinance" or "several ceremonies...explained in the Apostolical Constitutions" of "chrism", including documents by Theophilus (d. 181) and Tertullian (d. 220). The most detailed version of the practice is by Cyril of Jerusalem who details how ointment or oil was "symbolically applied to the forehead, and the other organs of sense" and that the "ears, nostrils, and breast were each to be anointed." Cyril states that the "ointment is the seal of the covenants" of baptism and God's promises to the Christian who is anointed. Cyril taught that being "anointed with the Holy anointing oil of God" was the sign of a Christian, and a physical representation of having the Gift of the Holy Spirit, and it retains this meaning in Catholicism and Orthodoxy today. He says, "Having been counted worthy of this Holy Chrism, ye are called Christians, verifying the name also by your new birth. For before you were deemed worthy of this grace, ye had properly no right to this title, but were advancing on your way towards being Christians." (On the Mysteries 3.5)

Latin Catholicism

Chrism is essential for the Catholic sacrament of confirmation or chrismation and is prominently used in the sacraments of baptism and holy orders. Those to be confirmed or chrismated, after receiving the laying on of hands, are anointed on the head by the bishop or priest. In baptism, if the person baptized is not to be immediately confirmed or chrismated, the minister anoints them with chrism. Newly ordained priests are anointed with chrism on the palms of their hands, and newly ordained bishops receive an anointing of chrism on their foreheads. It is also used in the consecration of objects such as churches and altars.

In the ancient Liturgy prior to the reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council, that is still retained today as an extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, employed by certain ecclesiastical communities, the use of chrism during the administration of holy orders differs: in the older form of the Roman Rite, priests are anointed in the hands only with the oil of catechumens, while bishops consecrated with the old ritual are anointed both in the head and in the hands with chrism.

Before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, chrism had to be used to consecrate patens and chalices as well. The sign of the cross would be made with the chrism on the interior parts of the chalice and paten where the Eucharist would rest; the cross would then be smeared to cover the entire interior parts. The chalice and paten would need to be consecrated with the chrism again if they were re-gilded. This ritual could only be performed by a bishop or a priest with the faculties to do so. According to the new rubrics, a simple blessing suffices. However, it is still permitted that the bishop performs the consecration with chrism.

Chrism is made of olive oil and is scented with a sweet perfume, usually balsam. Under normal circumstances, chrism is consecrated by the bishop of the particular church in the presence of the presbyterium at the Chrism Mass, which takes place in the morning of Holy Thursday. The oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick are also blessed at this Mass.

These holy oils are usually stored in special vessels known as chrismaria and kept in a cabinet known as an ambry. When the oils are distributed to a priest for him to use in his ministry they are kept in a smaller vessel with three compartments, known as an "oil stock". There is also a type of oil stock that is shaped like a ring, to make the anointing easier. The "jewel" of the ring is a container with a removable lid.

Holy oils were also used, in the older form of the Roman Rite, for the anointing of kings during ceremonies of coronation. Several local rites allowed for the use of chrism in those coronation rites (e.g. in the pre-reformation English coronation rite the anointing was with chrism; Napoleon was anointed with chrism by Pope Pius VII, etc.). However, the general coronation rite of the Roman Liturgy, codified in the Roman Pontifical of Pope Clement VIII, prescribed the use of the oil of cathecumens for the anointing of kings.

The Holy Ampulla or Holy Ampoule (Sainte Ampoule in French) was a glass vial which, from its first recorded use by Pope Innocent II for the anointing of Louis VII in 1131 to the Coronation of Louis XVI in 1775, held anointing oil for the coronations of the kings of France. In each French coronation, one drop of this anointing oil was mixed with chrism. Thus, French coronations employed chrism mixed with the oil of the Sainte Ampoule for the anointing of kings. The Sainte Ampoule was said to have been discovered by Hincmar the Archbishop of Reims when the sepulcher containing the body of Saint Remi was opened in the reign of Charles the Bald and identified with the baptism of Clovis I, the first Frankish king converted to Christianity; it was kept thereafter in the Abbey of Saint-Remi, Reims and brought with formality to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Reims at each coronation, where the emphasis was on the anointment rather than on the crowning. Some remains of the content of the ampoule, destroyed in 1793 by French revolutionaries, were placed in a new reliquary made in time for the Coronation of Charles X and are kept since 1906 at the Archbishopric of Reims.

Anglicanism and Lutheranism
The primary use of chrism in Anglican and Lutheran churches is for the rite of chrismation, which may be included as a part of baptism, even for infants.

The oil of chrism is also commonly used in confirmation, although this practice is not followed by churches of these denominations that are in the evangelical tradition. Owing to this difference of practice, it is common for Anglican and Lutheran confirmation liturgies to refer to the use of chrism as an option. The liturgy of the Church of England states "Oil mixed with fragrant spices (traditionally called chrism), expressing the blessings of the messianic era and the richness of the Holy Spirit, may be used to accompany the confirmation". The confirmation liturgy of the Anglican Province of Southern Africa includes the rubric "The Bishop may sign them on the forehead, using at his discretion the Chrism". The liturgy of the Igreja Lusitana (Anglican Church in Portugal) states at the point of confirmation: "Os confirmandos ajoelham perante o Bispo. Este pode assinala-los na testa com o sinal da cruz, usando oleo proprio" ("The confirmands kneel before the Bishop. He may anoint them on the forehead with the sign of the cross, using the proper oil").

The use of chrism in Anglican and Lutheran ordination liturgies is similarly presented as an option in most provinces. In the liturgy for the ordination of priests in the Church of England, for example, the instruction is: "The bishop may anoint the palms of the hands of each newly ordained priest, saying 'May God, who anointed the Christ with the Holy Spirit at his baptism, anoint and empower you to reconcile and bless his people'." There is a similar instruction for the ordination of bishops, who are anointed on the head rather than the palms of the hands.

An important and specific use of chrism is in the anointing during the coronation of the British monarch. In this part of the service, the Archbishop of Canterbury anoints the sovereign on the head, hands and heart. Anglicans consider this to be the holiest rite of the service, so much so that it is hidden from the congregation's view by a canopy of state. It was not filmed during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, or photographed in 1937 during the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. During the coronation of Charles III in May 2023, specially-made, portable screens were used during the anointing to conceal the King and Archbishop from the congregation and TV cameras during this sacred rite. It is followed by the presentation of the crown jewels to the sovereign, then the actual coronation.

Its other notable use is in the consecration of church buildings, where it may be used to anoint the walls, the altar/table, and the place for reservation of the eucharistic sacrament for the sick.

As in other traditions, chrism is usually based on olive oil (although other plant oils can be used if olive oil is unavailable), scented with a sweet perfume, usually balsam. Civet oil, and ambergris from the intestines of whales may be used. In preparing the oil for the 2023 coronation of Charles III, monarch of the United Kingdom and several Commonwealth countries, animal-derived components were not used, the olive oil being scented with essential oils of sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli and benzoin, and with orange blossom.

Chrism is usually consecrated by the bishop of the particular church in the presence of the presbyterium at the Chrism Eucharist, which takes place on Maundy Thursday or a day shortly before, where priestly ordination vows are often renewed also. The oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick are usually also consecrated at this liturgy. Practices vary for the blessing of the chrism, from interpolations within the Eucharistic Prayer, to specific prayers of consecration, used at the discretion of the minister. Some Lutheran and Anglican liturgical books, however, make provision for a pastor who is not a bishop (a presbyter) to consecrate chrism in time of need and in the absence of the bishop. The oil for the coronation of Charles III was consecrated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Latter Day Saints
Members of the Latter Day Saint movement also practice ritual anointing of the sick, as well as other forms of anointing. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider anointing to be an ordinance.

Members of the LDS church who hold the Melchizedek priesthood may use consecrated oil in performing the ordinance of blessing of the "sick or afflicted", although the blessing may be performed without oil if it is unavailable. The priesthood holder anoints the recipient's head with a drop of oil, then lays their hands upon the head and declares the act of anointing. Then another priesthood holder joins in, if available, and pronounces a "sealing" of the anointing, and other words of blessing. Melchizedek priesthood holders are also authorized to consecrate any pure olive oil, and often carry a personal supply in case they have need to perform a blessing. Oil is not used in other blessings, such as for people seeking comfort or counsel. The word "chrism" is not used.

In addition to the reference, the Doctrine and Covenants contains numerous references to the anointing and healing of the sick by those with authority to do so.

Eastern Orthodox Church

Within the Orthodox Church chrism plays a part in many liturgical services and sacraments. The first sacrament that uses chrism, the sacrament of chrismation, is the second of the three sacraments of initiation (baptism, chrismation, and Divine Eucharist). For the Orthodox, chrismation canonically must be administered in conjunction with baptism, except in a case of true necessity. Here the blessing of the bishop upon the chrism functions as a substitute for the direct imposition of hands. Another use is in the consecration of church buildings, involving the anointing of the walls and of the altar table. Formerly, emperors and kings of monarchies where Orthodoxy was the state religion would receive anointment with chrism at their coronation. The introduction of anointing in the Byzantine coronation ceremony was a relatively late development; this was adopted only after the Latin occupation of Constantinople, following Latin practice.

The Orthodox Church makes chrism during Holy Week beginning on Holy Monday and culminating in the Divine Liturgy on Holy Thursday when it is carried in the Great Entrance and placed upon the altar. It consists primarily of olive oil with the addition of a range of aromatic essences, patterned after the anointing oil described in. Holy Myron is confected only by a bishop, without prejudice to particular law which reserves this power to the patriarch. In Russian tradition:

[...] into each vessel of new myrrh are poured a few drops of the old myrrh [...] This is done in token of the uninterrupted connection of the Russian Church with the Greek, from which she received [...] the first consecrated myrrh.

On completion, chrism is distributed to all the bishops, who, in turn, give it to their parishes when needed. It is not made on a yearly basis, but only when supplies run short.

The Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople produces chrism roughly once every 10 years using an ancient formula of the Jewish prophets and patriarchs that calls for 64 ingredients, while the flame needed to boil the mixture during the preparation is made by burning old and disfigured icons. The preparation of the chrism in the patriarchate is carried out by the college of the Kosmētores Myrepsoí (Greek: Κοσμήτορες Μυρεψοί, "Deans Perfumers"), presided by the Árchōn Myrepsós, the "Lord Perfumer". The incumbent Archon Myrepsos is biochemist Prodromos Thanasoglou.

In Byzantine times the official responsible was the Grand Sacristan of the Patriarchate, but since then the specific office of the Archon Myrepsos was created. Laity are not allowed to handle either the chrism or the vessels containing it, therefore the Myrepsoi undergo a sort of "temporary ordination" into the clergy and are given by the patriarch a gold "Cross of Ministry" to hang from their necks for the duration of their four-day service. The Archon is given the lention, a silk "towel" or apron. Three copper cauldrons are used for the preparation: the largest contains olive oil, the smallest contains water and the aromatic ingredients and the middle contains wine, which allows the oil to boil without catching fire. The preparation involves several steps, some—such as the addition of musk and rose oil—performed by the patriarch himself. Once the chrism is filtered and ready, it is consecrated for the final time and stored in silver vessels in the Chapel of Saint Andrew, pending distribution.

Oriental Orthodox Churches
In the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Jacobite Fraction), it is believed that Christ taught the holy apostles how to consecrate the myron or chrism. As a tradition, usually the primate or Catholicos of the East as appointed by Patariach consecrate the chrism.(Metropolitans can consecrate if needed) The primate is clothed in white vestments, "corresponding to the light of his soul, and with the purity of his person, as the mystery indicates to him that it should be offered to God in purity." Present with the primate are twelve priests who represent the twelve apostles, twelve censers indicating the preaching of the Gospel, twelve lamps to symbolize the luminous revelations that descend upon them and twelve fans to indicate that it is not right that the divine mysteries should be revealed to those who are unworthy.

The Armenian Apostolic Church consecrates myrrh every seven years in autumn at Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Armenia.

title: Chrism


text:
Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz

Jarosław Leon Iwaszkiewicz (also known under his literary pseudonym Eleuter; 20 February 1894 – 2 March 1980), was a Polish writer, poet, essayist, dramatist and translator. He is recognized for his literary achievements, beginning with poetry and prose written after World War I. After 1989, he was often presented as a political opportunist during his mature years lived in communist Poland, where he held high offices (participated in the slander of Polish expatriates, literary and other figures who after World War II remained in the West). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. In 1988, he was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations for his role in sheltering Jews during World War II.

Life and career
Iwaszkiewicz was born in Kalnyk in Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire (now Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine). After the death of his father (an accountant), he and his mother lived in Warsaw in 1902–1904, and then moved back to Kiev Governorate. He graduated from a secondary school in Kiev in 1912 and enrolled at the Law Faculty of Kiev University.

In 1914, he travelled in Sicily and North Africa with his friend and distant cousin Karol Szymanowski, a composer for whose opera King Roger he later provided the libretto. After World War I, in October 1918 Iwaszkiewicz came to Warsaw, where he joined a group of young artists associated with the Pro Arte et Studio magazine. He had his public debut as a poet at the Pod Picadorem café on 29 November. With Julian Tuwim and Antoni Słonimski, he founded the Skamander group of experimental poets in 1919.

He was appointed to be secretary of Maciej Rataj, marshal of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic and served in that capacity in 1923–1925. Iwaszkiewicz worked for a magazine called Wiadomości Literackie ('The Literary News') in 1924–1939; he also published his works in numerous periodicals, including Gazeta Polska (1934–1938) and Ateneum (1938–1939). He was secretary to the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts (Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych) and from 1925 a member of the Polish PEN Club. From 1927 with the Foreign Ministry, first appointed the head of the art promotion section of the Press Department and later sent as secretary of the Polish mission to Copenhagen (1932–1935) and Brussels (1935–1936). He was a member of The Trade Union of Polish Writers (Związek Zawodowy Literatów Polskich, ZZLP) and in 1939 voted its vice-president.

During World War II, Iwaszkiewicz participated in the Polish Underground State's activities, working in the Department of Education, Science and Culture of the Government Delegation for Poland. He collaborated with Prof. Stanisław Lorentz in his efforts to protect and rescue Poland's works of art. Iwaszkiewicz and his wife Anna had extensive contacts within the Jewish-Polish intelligentsia circles and assisted their former neighbors, friends and acquaintances in a variety of ways during the German occupation of Poland. Iwaszkiewicz family's Villa Stawisko residence served as a hiding place for many Jews and Poles who faced the threat of being arrested by Nazi Germans, especially after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. At one time, more than 40 people were sheltered in the mansion. During the war, Stawisko also functioned as a center of Polish underground literature and art.

In 1945–1946, 1947–1949 and 1959–1980, Iwaszkiewicz served as head of the Polish Writers' Union. In 1945–1949 and 1955–1957 he was literary manager of the Polish Theatre in Warsaw. From March 1947 to December 1949, he published the Nowiny literackie ('Literary News') magazine. Beginning in 1956, for many years he was chief editor of the monthly Twórczość ('Creativity'). Vice-president of the Polish PEN Club in 1950–1965.

Iwaszkiewicz was an organizer of the World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace held in Wrocław in 1948 and a delegate to the World Peace Congress in 1950.

He served as a nonpartisan member of parliament from 1952 until his death in 1980. In his last three terms, he was the Senior Marshal of the Sejm. Iwaszkiewicz wrote of his deeply socialist convictions, but was ambivalent and privately bitter about the political reality of the Polish People's Republic, within which he officially functioned. Nevertheless, he was greatly impressed by the appreciation note that he received from Bolesław Bierut on the 40th anniversary of Iwaszkiewicz's literary career. In 1956, he was thrilled by the Polish October events. After a conversation with Edward Ochab in 1961, Iwaszkiewicz wrote: "They blame me for not having done anything as a member of the Sejm, but then they want me to be a deputy again". He continued his lifelong habit of making many foreign trips.

Iwaszkiewicz wrote novels and short stories, poems, dramatic works, essays and columns, and translations from French, English, Russian and Danish literatures. His major epic novel is Sława i Chwała ('Fame and Glory') – a panorama of life of Polish intelligentsia in the first half of the 20th century. In particular, he is highly regarded for his short stories, a genre he developed and modernized. Using changing forms and themes, throughout his career Iwaszkiewicz produced collections of poems of major significance. He wrote plays based on classical motifs and many miscellaneous pieces reflecting his interests and pursuits in areas such as music and theatre, travel, and popularization of culture.

In 1936, Iwaszkiewicz won the Golden Laurel (Polish: Złoty Wawrzyn) conferred by the Polish Academy of Literature. He was twice awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (1946 and 1947) and also the Order of the Builders of People's Poland in 1954. In 1955, he became the recipient of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland. In 1970, he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize. In 1974, Edward Gierek awarded him with the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Warsaw in 1971 and the Jagiellonian University in 1979, as well as numerous other Polish, foreign and international awards and distinctions. However, Iwaszkiewicz's works were removed in Poland from school recommended readings after the collapse of the Soviet Bloc. They have since been regaining the recognition of their value and rank.

Czesław Miłosz wrote the following: "Iwaszkiewicz is a great figure and nobody who deals with Polish literature can omit him. Even if some parts of his huge literary output are excluded, there is enough left, also as a testimony to the three epochs, to secure for him a place higher than that of any of his contemporaries". He concluded, "One is almost inclined to believe that some people are gripped by circumstances meant for them, and that for him the good fortunes, after his impoverished youth, began in the interwar period, to endure also later". For Miłosz could not imagine Iwaszkiewicz as an émigré personality.

Iwaszkiewicz died on 2 March 1980 and was buried on 5 March at the cemetery in Brwinów near Warsaw, according to his last wish in a miner's uniform.

Personal life
In 1922, Iwaszkiewicz married Anna Lilpop (1897–1979), a writer and translator and daughter of Stanisław Wilhelm Lilpop, a wealthy entrepreneur. The couple settled in Podkowa Leśna near Warsaw. In 1928, they moved to a newly built villa that Iwaszkiewicz named Stawisko. It currently houses a museum devoted to Iwaszkiewicz and his wife. They had two daughters: Maria (1924–2019) and Teresa (1928–2012). Iwaszkiewicz was bisexual and homoerotic; those themes are present in his poetry and prose works. In his diaries he describes himself as a "homosexual"; however, in light of the current understanding of human sexual orientation and his biography, he can be characterized as a bisexual. Iwaszkiewicz experienced and described a particularly intense relationship with a younger man terminally ill with tuberculosis; it commenced when the writer was over sixty years old. His wife always "knew of all of his affections".

In 2012, his great-granddaughter Ludwika Włodek wrote a best-selling biographical book about the life of her great-grandfather, titled Pra.

Short stories

 * Panny z Wilka ('The Wilko Girls'); Brzezina ('The Birch Grove'), Warsaw 1933
 * Młyn nad Utratą ('The Mill on the River Utrata'), Warsaw 1936
 * Dwa opowiadania ('Two Stories'), Warsaw 1938
 * Nowa miłość i inne opowiadania ('New Love and Other Stories'), Warsaw 1946
 * Tatarak i inne opowiadania ('Calamus and Other Stories'), Warsaw 1960
 * Heidenreich. Cienie. Dwa opowiadania ('Heidenreich. Shadows. Two Stories'), Poznań 1964

Novels

 * Zenobia Palmura, Poznań 1920
 * Ucieczka do Bagdadu ('Escape to Baghdad'), Warsaw 1923
 * Hilary, syn buchaltera ('Hilary, Son of a Bookkeeper'), Warsaw 1923
 * Księżyc wschodzi ('The Moon Rises'), Warsaw 1925
 * Zmowa mężczyzn ('Conspiracy of Men'), Warsaw 1930
 * Czerwone tarcze ('Red Shields'), Warsaw 1934
 * Sława i chwała ('Fame and Glory'), vol. 1–3, Warsaw 1956–1962

Poetry

 * Oktostychy ('Octostichs'), Warsaw 1919
 * Dionizje ('Dionysiacs'), Warsaw 1922
 * Kaskady zakończone siedmioma wierszami ('Cascades Ending in Seven Poems'), Warsaw 1925
 * Pejzaże sentymentalne ('Sentimental Landscapes'), Warsaw 1926
 * Ksiega dnia i księga nocy ('The Book of Day and the Book of Night'), Warsaw 1929
 * Powrót do Europy ('Return to Europe'), Warsaw 1931
 * Lato 1932 ('Summer 1932'), 1933
 * Inne życie ('Another Life'), 1938
 * Ody olimpijskie ('Olympian Odes'), Warsaw 1948
 * Warkocz jesieni ('The Plait of Autumn'), Warsaw 1954
 * Ciemne ścieżki ('Dark Paths'), Warsaw 1957
 * Jutro żniwa ('Harvest Tomorrow'), Warsaw 1963
 * Krągły rok ('Year Round'), Warsaw 1967
 * Xenie i elegie ('Xenias and Elegies'), Warsaw 1970
 * Śpiewnik włoski ('Italian Songbook'), Warsaw 1974
 * Mapa pogody ('Weather Map'), Warsaw 1977

Plays

 * Libretto to Karol Szymanowski's King Roger; premiere in Teatr Wielki, Warsaw 1926. Szymanowski completely re-wrote the third act libretto.
 * Kochankowie z Werony. Tragedia romatyczna w 3 aktach ('The Lovers of Verona. Romantic Tragedy in 3 Acts'); premiere in Teatr Nowy, Warsaw 1930
 * Lato w Nohant. Komedia w 3 aktach ('The Summer at Nohant. Comedy in 3 Acts'); premiere in Teatr Mały, Warsaw 1936
 * Maskarada. Melodramat w 4 Aktach ('Masquerade. Melodrama in 4 Acts'); premiere in Teatr Polski, Warsaw 1938
 * Odbudowa Błędomierza. Sztuka w 3 aktach ('The Rebuilding of Błędomierz. Play in 3 Acts'); premiere in Teatr Stary, Kraków 1951
 * Wesele Pana Balzaka ('The Wedding of Mr. Balzac'); premiere in Teatr Kameralny, Warsaw 1959
 * Kosmogonia ('Cosmogony'); premiere in Teatr Polski, Warsaw 1967

(Lato w Nohant is based on an episode in Frédéric Chopin's life and Maskarada on Alexander Pushkin's final days.)

Films

 * Matka Joanna od aniołów ('Mother Joan of the Angels') by Jerzy Kawalerowicz 1961
 * Kochankowie z Marony ('The Lovers of Marona') by Jerzy Zarzycki 1966
 * Brzezina ('The Birch Grove' ) by Andrzej Wajda 1970
 * Panny z Wilka ('The Wilko Girls') by Andrzej Wajda 1979
 * Ryś (('The Lynx'), based on Iwaszkiewicz's short story Kościół w Skaryszewie ('The Church in Skaryszew')) by Stanisław Różewicz 1981
 * Kochankowie z Marony ('The Lovers of Marona') by Izabela Cywińska 2005
 * Tatarak ('Calamus') by Andrzej Wajda 2009

title: Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Lyndon LaRouche/parody

Impossibly POV. RickK 22:29, Aug 10, 2004 (UTC)

 * Delete. Gzornenplatz 22:33, Aug 10, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete if not NPOVed and moved to a better title where it isn't duplicating anything. - Fennec (はさばくのきつね) 22:40, 10 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete, but also move to WP:BJAODN. Neutrality 00:05, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Oh my. Mildly entertaining in a sociopathic way, but please delete with all due haste. Fire Star 02:09, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete, WP:BJAODN. -- Jmabel 23:58, Aug 11, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete, but could we move it to a metawiki thing someplace? Stirling Newberry 03:56, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Jacques Pelletier du Mans

Untitled
Does Pelletier have a first name?

Acegikmo1 22:30, 10 Aug 2004 (UTC)

One "l" or two?
"'Peletier' is consistently spelled with one 'l'" says the article ... and so it it throughout the text, however, the title doesn't match. Either the text should we rewritten to match the title or the article should be moved to match the text. J IM ptalk·cont 02:09, 24 June 2008 (UTC)
 * One "l" is more correct, the article should be moved. --Federico Leva (BEIC) (talk) 13:23, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

A problem in the 5th paragraph
Currently there are either two incompletely joined sentences or somebody forgot to write an ending to the first sentence. It almost looks like someone tried to chop a very ong sentence into two smaller ones. Can someone fix it? __209.179.62.240 (talk) 19:00, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

title: Talk:Jacques Pelletier du Mans


text:
Eleuter

Eleuter may refer to:
 * Jerzy Eleuter Szymonowicz Siemiginowski (1660–1711), aka Siemiginowski-Eleuter (c. 1660 – c. 1711), a Polish painter and engraver
 * Pseudonym of Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980), a Polish writer

title: Eleuter


text:
North American Indoor Football League (2005)

The North American Indoor Football League (NAIFL) was a proposed indoor football league that announced plans in 2004 to begin play in fourteen Canadian cities beginning in February 2005. The game played was to be a unique indoor version of Canadian football. Teams were to be centrally owned, and former Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Tom Wilkinson was to serve as league president. The league never played a single game and its website went offline in early 2006.

The 14 teams announced were:

East Division

West Division


text:
File talk:Wfm monument valley annotated.jpg

Name that butte
archived discussion from Reference desk, moved here by Finlay McWalter

Say, is this a photo of Monument Valley, or somewhere else? It was taken on a flight from San Francisco, California to Houston, Texas, and I figure it is Arizona somewhere, but I've no idea where. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:15, 6 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * - Take a look at this Terraserver image (set the map size to "Large" if your monitor can handle it.) To my eye, it's a match, but I'm not extremely good at these things. If you switch to the topo map view, you'll see that you're looking at features which exist in Monument Valley (West and East Mitten Butte, Sentinel Mesa, etc). Catbar (Brian Rock) 13:51, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * - As I look again, I become more certain - this is looking at part of Monument Valley. Nice picture, by the way. Also, not all of Monument Valley is in Arizona, some is in Utah. To be more precise, it's all on Navaho Reservation land. Hope this helps. Catbar (Brian Rock) 14:42, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Yes I agree. I was sceptical at first, but I can see it now. One confusing element is that the Terraserver image is a montage and the shadows fall in the opposite direction at the top of the large view.
 * You need to rotate the Terraserver image by a little over 90deg to the right, scale it down to about a half, and mentally project it, then it covers a patch about 100x100pix near the middle right of Finlay's image. You can match it if you can identify the line (heading NW on the Terraserver image) of the two shadowed spots near the centre (presumably the E+W Mittens) with the larger island toward the top. Those three points run ESE from the centre of Finlay's picture. Once you've found that you can match all sorts of peaks and valleys. Well done! -- Solipsist 18:48, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Thanks. My first judgement was just an eyeballing and I wasn't sure either. Later, I started mentally walking around the object I now believe is Sentinel Mesa in both pictures, figuring out the directional shift needed to match the maps, and then found that everything matched, hence my second note.

 * The picture was taken in southeastern Utah, looking southwest into Arizona. The solitary fairly sizable butte in the center of the lower right quadrant of the picture is Sentinel Mesa, I think, which is just north of the Utah-Arizona border. Thanks again for a nice question and a nice picture Finlay! Catbar (Brian Rock) 19:30, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * ...and the plane was at about 32,500 ft. Judging from the length of the shadows it was some time between 4:30pm and 6:15pm local time ;-)  -- Solipsist 20:25, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Wow, thanks all for such unexpected dilligence. As to the time - the EXIF data in the file says 12:45 california time, so that's 13:45 mountain time, I think.  I can't be sure the clock was correct (the camera was brand new) but other photos in the same set look to be timed correctly, or within an hour.  The photo was taken on 11th July 2002, and perhaps my (rather excessive) photoshop contrast-enhance may make the shadows appear to be more profound.  Thanks again. -- Finlay McWalter |  Talk 20:55, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * I'm going to upload an annotated version. The current work-in-progress version is here.  I'd appreciate any comments on it before I upload it. -- Finlay McWalter |  Talk 19:54, 9 Aug 2004 (UTC)


text:
Skamander

Skamander was a Polish group of experimental poets founded in 1918 by Julian Tuwim, Antoni Słonimski, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Kazimierz Wierzyński and Jan Lechoń. Initially unnamed, in December 1919 it adopted the name Skamander, after the Scamander River in Asia Minor. It gave its name to the monthly review it published from 1920.

History
The group was initially closely related to the Pro Arte et Studio literary monthly and the Pod Picadorem (Picador) Café in Warsaw. In 1920 it created its own publication, the Skamander monthly, though its members also collaborated with Wiadomości Literackie (Literary News) and other newspapers.

The young poets were heavily influenced by Leopold Staff and other neoromantic poets. Their main aims were to break the links between history and poetry and to end the nationalist and patriotic functions of Polish poetry. They also emphasized the need to restore poetry to the common people by returning to everyday-language usage in poetry, including colloquialisms, neologisms and vulgarisms. Finally, the Skamandrites (Skamandryci) emphasized the beauty of everyday life and of all forms of life generally, including the biological side.

In contrast to the basic aims of the late-19th-century Young Poland movement, Skamander's members eschewed semi-mythological heroes and protagonists, replacing them with common people. In contrast to the contemporary Awangarda Krakowska (Kraków Avant-Garde) movement, they saw themselves as continuers of Polish literary traditions, especially those of romanticism and neoromanticism.

Apart from the movement's five chief members, several lesser-known poets and critics adhered to its principles. They included Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna, Stanisław Baliński, Gabriel Michał Karski, Światopełk Karpiński, Jerzy Paczkowski, Karol Zawodziński and Wilam Horzyca.

title: Skamander


text:
Big South Fork of the Cumberland River

The Big South Fork of the Cumberland River is a 76 mi river in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Kentucky. It is a major drainage feature of the Cumberland Plateau, a major tributary of the Cumberland River system, and the major feature of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

Physical geography
The Big South Fork begins at the confluence of the New River and the Clear Fork in Scott County, Tennessee, and flows northwest, northeast, and north until ending at Lake Cumberland in McCreary County, Kentucky, near the town of Burnside. It is the third largest tributary of the Cumberland River, and is free flowing for a distance of approximately 37 mi before being affected by the headwaters of the lake.

The terrain furthest upstream near the confluence is the most rugged, with reliefs of as much as 1900 ft. This area is characterized by dendritic draining patterns and narrow gorges, with valleys strewn with large boulders fallen from cliffs above. Major formations include natural arches, mesas, chimneys, cracks and rock shelters. The terrain becomes less rugged as the river travels northward, with reliefs of between 200 ft and 300 ft.

Soil in the area is divided between two groups. The first is primarily made up of Ramsey, Hartsells, Grimsley, and Gilpin soils and is located adjacent to the river gorge. The second consists of Hartsells, Lonewood, Ramsey, and Gilpin soils and is found on the nearby plateau.

Hydrology
The river draws water from a drainage basin of Carboniferous rock in the Cumberland Plateau. Taken together, the Big South Fork and its tributaries drain between 1123 sqmi and 1382 sqmi,  of which about 17% is covered by the associated National Recreation Area.

The maximum recorded water flow on the Big South Fork was 93200 cuft/s, the minimum recorded was 11 cuft/s, and the river averages a flow of 1760 cuft/s. Around half of the Big South Fork's annual streamflow occurs during the months of January through March, and the lowest streamflow typically occurs during September and October.

Along the river basin, water drops from an maximum original elevation of 1250 ft above sea level at Peter's Bridge on the Clear Fork, to 723 ft where the waters meet the Cumberland. Between the confluence of the New River and Clear Fork, and Leatherwood Ford the river has an average gradient across 6.2 mi of 20 feet per mile (fpm), and a maximum gradient of 40 fpm.

Major tributaries of the Big South Fork include:

 * New River
 * Clear Fork River
 * North Whiteoak Creek
 * Pine Creek
 * Station Camp Creek
 * Parch Corn Creek
 * No Business Creek
 * Williams Creek
 * Troublesome Creek
 * Bear Creek
 * Roaring Paunch Creek
 * Rock Creek
 * Wolf Creek
 * Kogar Creek

Water quality is generally good, but may be negatively affected by mine drainage, logging, poor road quality, and ground disturbances. The river contains about two times as much suspended and dissolved solids at a comparable river basin which does not have a history of mining. Both Tennessee and Kentucky have designated their respective portions of the Big South Fork as Outstanding National Resource Waters, and cleanup and reclamation efforts by a number of organizations have been made.

History
It is likely that the area surrounding the Big South Fork was frequented by Paleo-Indians, which continued up until early colonial times, although it is not clear that the area was permanently inhabited by prehistoric peoples. No intensive surveys of archaeological sites had been conducted as of 1977, when the Army Corps of Engineers published their comprehensive study of the area, although one study from the University of Tennessee along with one inter-agency governmental report had identified 21 total sites. A 2005 report by the National Park Service however estimated a total of 10,000 archaeological sites, evenly split between pre and post European contact.

The first permanent European settlement was likely in 1769 in modern-day Wayne County, Kentucky. By 1798, the Treaty of Tellico had officially expelled the native Cherokee peoples from the river basin, although the land, which was not well suited to agriculture, was mostly passed over by settlers until the founding of the ultimately failed colony of Rugby, Tennessee, by Thomas Hughes in the 1880s.

Blue Heron
The mining community of modern-day Blue Heron, Kentucky, was established in 1937 along the banks of the Big South Fork, and operated until 1962 when it was abandoned by the Stearns Coal and Lumber Company. The site was later recreated in the 1980s and reopened as an outdoor museum.

National River and Recreation Area
The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area was established by the United States Congress as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 1974. According to the text of the act, the purpose of the establishment was for:

"conserving and interpreting an area containing unique cultural, historic, geologic, fish and wildlife, archeologic, scenic, and recreational values, preserving as a natural, free-flowing stream the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River, major portions of its Clear Fork and New River stems, and portions of their various tributaries for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations, the preservation of the natural integrity of the scenic gorges and valleys, and the development of the area’s potential for healthful outdoor recreation."

The legislation granted authority for land acquisition to the Army Corps of Engineers, and for managing the area to the United States Secretary of the Interior once established. Congress authorized final transfer of the land to the National Park Service in 1990, and the official dedication of the park occurred on August 25, 1991.

Ecology
The Big South Fork and its watershed is home to a large variety of plant and animal species, and has likely been continuously vegetated since before the last glacial period, ending approximately 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Habitats range from floodplains, to coves, as well as ravines, moist slopes, and sandstone caprock. The area is home to between 68 and 81 species of fish, 23 species of mussels, and up to 215 individual taxa of macro invertebrates.

Animal life
Fish species include Ictalurus punctatus (channel catfish), Stizostedion vitreum (walleye), Esox masquinongy (muskellunge), Morone chrysops (white bass), Ambloplites rupestris (rock bass), and Lepomis megalotis (longear sunfish).

The availability of “seeds, berries, nuts, buds, flowers, fleshy roots and twigs” encourages the presence of species such as the Bonasa umbellus (ruffed grouse), Meleagris gallopavo (turkey), Sciurus carolinensis (eastern gray squirrel). Food available in canopy vegetation supports Vireo olivaceus (red-eyed vireo), Wilsonia citrina (hooded warbler), Setophaga ruticilla (American redstart), Sorex fumeus (smoky shrew), Scalopus aquaticus (eastern mole), Neotoma floridana (eastern woodrat), and Peromyscus leucopus (white-footed mouse). These species in turn provide food for predatory birds such as Strix varia (barred owl) and Buteo lineatus (red-shouldered hawk).

During the 1990s, 14 adult female and 16 black bear cubs were reintroduced to the river basin, relocated from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As of 2013, genetic analysis estimated the bear population in the area to be at 245.

Plant life
The plant life along the river and in the surrounding basin can be divided into plateau and ravine communities consisting of mixed oak forests along with areas of mixed mesophytic vegetation. Forests of sugar maple, along with beech and yellow birch are found in low moist slopes, and  Tsuga canadensis (Canadian hemlock) along with undergrowth of Rhododendron maximum grow in coves along streams. Communities of various species of pine may also be found.

As the result of logging in the mid 20th century, most of the areas consists of 2nd or 3rd growth forest.

Whitewater
Whitewater rafting and kayaking occur on the Big South Fork mostly in the Spring season. Available runs range in distance from 4.8 mi to 27 mi, and vary in difficulty between classes I and IV according to the international scale of river difficulty. The most popular runs are those upstream from Leatherwood Ford, ranging from 8.5 mi to 15.5 mi in distance and between class I and IV in difficulty depending on put-in. The minimum water flow recommended by the National Park Service for rafting is 800 cfs, with a maximum flow of 10,000 cfs for safe rafting.

Moving downstream from the confluence to Lake Cumberland, named rapids according to the National Park Service are:

 * 1) Double Falls
 * 2) Washing Machine
 * 3) The Ell
 * 4) Rion's Eddy
 * 5) Jake's Hold
 * 6) O&W Rapid
 * 7) Angel Falls
 * 8) Big Shoals
 * 9) Devil's Jump

title: Big South Fork of the Cumberland River


text:
Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps

Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps (commonly referred to as "Phantom") is a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps based in Rockford, Illinois, USA. The corps is a long-standing member of Drum Corps International (DCI), having been a DCI World Championship Top Twelve Finalist every year since 1974 and DCI World Champions in 1996 (tie) and 2008.

History
The corps was founded in 1956 by Alex Haddad, a member of the Col. Thomas G. Lawler VFW Post 342. Under his direction, the corps was named the Rockford Rangers, with all-male drum and bugle sections and an all-female color guard named the Rangerettes. However, when many of the charter members were impressed by the recording of the Syracuse Brigadiers performing the Leroy Anderson composition The Phantom Regiment, the corps' name was changed before the unit made its debut, with the color guard renamed the Phantomettes.

In the corps' early years, the Phantomettes and a corps-sponsored all-boy color guard called the Raiders were competitively successful. The drum and bugle corps, however, struggled. In 1962, the corps bought a set of high quality bugles that had belonged to the Commonwealth Edison Knights of Light Drum and Bugle Corps which had folded two years earlier. With the new instruments and a new brass arranger, the corps began to improve. The old set of bugles went to the newly formed Phantom Regiment Cadets.

Despite the Phantomettes having placed second at the 1962 color guard national championships, in 1963, Phantom Regiment fielded an all-male corps, including the color guard. When scores fell behind those of the previous season, the Phantomettes returned to the corps for 1964. With the girls back in the corps, successful recruitment, and new uniforms, the corps had its best season until that time, including a finish of 15th among 45 corps at the VFW National Championship preliminaries in Cleveland. The Phantomettes were honored in the graphic on the City of Rockford's 1964 vehicle registration stickers. But on August 21, 1964, Regimental Hall, the corps' home base, was badly damaged by a fire. The organization was forced to sell its instruments and uniforms to pay off its debts.

Financially unable to field a corps in 1965 through 1967, alumni and former staff members reorganized and officially incorporated on September 11, 1967. At the first meeting of the newly restructured corps in January, there were 28 members. The Regiment's 1968 drum and horn lines dressed in black pants and a red windbreaker with a black and white vertical stripe on the left side; the guard wore the same windbreaker, black Bermuda shorts and an "Aussie" style hat. The season consisted mostly of parades, with few field contests. The corps owned one vehicle; a red step van to carry the equipment. In that first year of the corps' return, perhaps the corps' greatest asset was its new musical arranger, Phantom Regiment alumnus and future DCI Hall of Fame member, Jim Wren, who would go on to arrange the unit's brass music for the next 32 years.

By 1970, Phantom was able to outfit the corps in new uniforms; a cadet-style jacket with a red diagonal sash dividing the black right side from the white left side, black pants with a white stripe, white buck shoes, and a shako with a 12-inch plume. The corps had grown to 89 members with 40 horns, 14 drums, 24 flags, 12 rifles, and a drum major.

In 1971, Wren started adding the classical music pieces that would become Phantom's trademark along with the usual pop music that most corps were playing. On a Friday the 13th in that year, so the legend goes, all of the corps' buses ran out of fuel; the equipment truck caught fire, not just once, but twice; yet the corps went out and won that night's contest.

Prior to the founding of DCI in 1972, the Phantom Regiment, like most corps of the time, was strictly a local organization. The members and the staff came from Rockford and its surrounding suburbs. Travel to contests was limited to perhaps a few hours of driving. The only "National" competition the corps had ever entered had been the 1964 VFW championships in Cleveland. The corps attended the first DCI competition, in Whitewater, Wisconsin, placing 23rd of 39 corps in prelims. In 1973, The corps returned to Whitewater and moved up to 14th place among 48 corps.

In 1974, Phantom presented its first full program of all-classical musical selections. The corps had grown to DCI's maximum of 128 members, and it took its first extended tour, travelling to Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts en route to the DCI Championships in Ithaca, New York. The corps was beating many of the activity's traditional powers and earning a reputation as a power in its own right. At DCI, the Regiment earned its first Top Twelve Finalist placement, beginning a string that has held through 2023. In prelims, the corps shocked many by placing 8th, although they fell back to 11th at Finals.

Once the corps became a DCI Finalist, it also became become a consistent contender, placing 10th in 1975, 4th in 1976, and having a frustrating run of second-place finishes in 1977, 1978 and 1979 with the corps scoring within tenths of a point from the title.

A fall to a 10th-place finish in 1986 led the corps to take a new approach. Three years of improvement, culminated in 1989 with another second-place finish, with Phantom's score of 98.400 tying the previous DCI highest score ever.

From 1975, Phantom Regiment's field visual shows had been designed by Norm Wheeler through 1979, when in 1980 future DCI Hall of Fame member John Brazale would move from Color Guard caption Head to Visual program Design Caption. Returning home after the 1992 DCI Championships, Brazale had complained of having severe headaches during the last few weeks, and was soon diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and died within months.

In 1996, Phantom Regiment tied the Blue Devils of Concord, California for its first DCI World Championship. Jim Wren arranged for the corps from 1967 through the 1999 season, and then retired as the corps' musical arranger. Michael Klesch took over arranging duties in 2000 and 2001, and was then followed by alumnus J.D. Shaw, who arranged the corps' music from the 2002 season through the 2011 season. After spending the 2012–2019 seasons with the Santa Clara Vanguard, J.D. Shaw returned to Phantom Regiment after the 2019 season.

In 2008, with its performance of "Spartacus", Phantom Regiment defeated the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps by a margin of 0.025 to win its second (and first outright) DCI World Championship.

Through 2019, Phantom Regiment has continued to be a DCI Finalist with the streak extending through 45 consecutive top-12 finishes. In 2022, the first year of competition since the COVID-19 Pandemic, Phantom Regiment returned with their highest placement since 2016, and highest score since 2014.

Show summary (1972–2024)
Source:

Caption awards
At the annual World Championship Finals, Drum Corps International (DCI) presents awards to the corps with the high average scores from prelims, semifinals, and finals in five captions. Phantom Regiment has won these caption awards.

Don Angelica Best General Effect Award Fred Sanford Best Percussion Performance Award
 * 2008
 * 2006, 2008, 2010

Prior to 2000 and the adoption of the current scoring format, Phantom Regiment won these captions:

High General Effect Award High Visual Award High Color Guard Award High Brass Award
 * 1991 (tie), 1996
 * 1979, 1980, 1989, 1990 (tie)
 * 1977, 1979, 1988
 * 1978, 1989, 1996

title: Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps


text: File:Clark Griffith Baseball.jpg

title: File:Clark Griffith Baseball.jpg