Bible Society distributes thousands of “Passion” Gospels

as a Year of the Bible 2004  program

  

The Bible Society in Lebanon was able to publish and distribute 100,000 portions of the Gospel of John to accompany the launching of Mel Gibson’s film: “The Passion of the Christ”. The mass distribution was part of the Year of the Bible 2004 campaign that was officially launched last December through a press conference held at the Catholic Information Center.

 The film was featured in twelve movie theaters on March 18 all over Lebanon - in Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon and Zahle – and has welcomed thousands of people, each of them receiving the Gospel of John. The Scripture portions were distributed by the theater staff and management; as people purchased tickets to watch the movie, they were offered the free Gospel from the ticket counter. The Passion of the Christ: Gospel of John portion, a 64-page pocket size production had the Year of the Bible 2004 logo on the back cover. An introduction to the publication was written by the director of the Catholic Information Centre, Father Abdo Bou Kasem, encouraging the moviegoers to read the entire Gospel after watching the film in order to encounter the Christ and to “…realize the pain that the Christ had to suffer for our sake… and His victory over death through His resurrection”.

 One of the main objectives of the Year of the Bible 2004 is to “increase Bible accessibility and availability to all those who wish to obtain it…” Mike Bassous, Acting General Secretary, commented: “As thousands of people flock to watch one of the most spoken-about movies of the decade, they will be impacted by the last 12 hours of Jesus’ ministry and would want to know more about Him. We are fortunate to have been able to grab the opportunity of this movie’s launching during this year – Year of the Bible. The best part of this project has been the close coordination between our distribution staff - who are working around the clock to ensure the continuous provision of Scriptures - and the cinema staff and management. There is clear evidence that there is a great awareness of the need to know Christ - through this movie (the teaser) and through the Gospel of Christ according to Saint John.”

 The distribution program of Scriptures will continue throughout Easter.