J.C. Mistaken for J.C.

JESUS ACTOR MISTAKEN FOR THE REAL DEAL

(www.ananova.com 7/6/04)

James Caviezel has been swamped with requests to perform miracles by Mexican fans who believe he really is Jesus Christ.

The 35-year-old actor, who played Jesus in Mel Gibson’s THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, was on a one-week tour of the east Mexican state of Veracruz. According to Mexican newspaper “Reforma,” dozens of residents from villages throughout the state, one of the poorest in the country, asked Caviezel to heal the sick and perform other miracles as he passed through.

The actor, who is himself a strict Catholic, said: “The belief of these people really moved me. It was a shock for me to see how they came up to me to ask for my help. I had to explain to them that I was only an actor, and wasn’t really the son of God.”

Mexico has the biggest population of Catholics in the world after Brazil and has been visited by the Pope five times.

[“For all of the ‘missions-oriented’ enthusiasm generated by evangelical leaders for THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, they have disregarded the reality that the movie does nothing to dissuade Catholics from their Church’s false gospel that can save no one.” -- T.A. McMahon]