I accepted to play Jesus
because of Međugorje
The Interview held by Robert Bubalo

I met Jim Caviezel, the American actor, in Široki Brijeg, a small Hercegovinian town about 30 kms from Međugorje. Fr. Jozo Zovko introduced us at the “world” premiere of the film ˝The Passion of the Christ˝ in which Caviezel plays Jesus.

When they met in Hercegovina Jim, strangely, had a working version of the film with him. Two days later he gave a premiere of the film in the Mother’s Village in Međugorje - a settlement that had been established by the late Fr. Slavko Barbarić for abandoned mothers with children.

This was a world film premiere without the music and the special effects. At the time, no one could have imagined how well the “Passion” would do throughout the world, and especially in the USA where it was threatened by a distribution boycott.

Jim came to our interview accompanied by his wife Kerrie, who incidentally has Croatian roots through her grandmother. He was casually dressed, with a rosary around his neck, but very serious. He’d just been through a very demanding period. Those were the weeks in which the film crew were exposed to strong pressures by Jewish associations which condemned the film in advance, denoting it as a product that gave Jews the role of Christ’s murderers.

During filming, Jim had not shunned any of the hard and dangerous scenes. He had even suffered being struck by lightening! When we met, he could hide neither the fatigue nor the glow of playing the Christ.

At the time of filming Jim was one year older than Christ had been at the time of His death. In many ways he renewed and deepened his faith during this time.
And by no means was he about to skip the big role of Međugorje in this film!

“I heard about Međugorje in 1981, namely the very year when the apparitions started. I was attending a Catholic school and the priest told us that the apparitions were false. This had been said by the then bishop in charge of Međugorje, and that attitude was accepted by ours. And I accepted it as well. Later, whenever I heard anything about Međugorje, I just thought that it had all been invented.

• You have told me that Međugorje has changed your life. In what way?

“During the painstaking filming of ˝The Count of Monte Christo˝ in Ireland, we had a lot of difficulties with the scenes. Then one day my wife called me from Međugorje and told me that she was so delighted by everything she was experiencing in this place. I told her that it was good for her to believe.

The full article can be found on pages 28-30 of Vol 3
2007 issue.