Malaysian Censors Say Passion is Only for Christians

Malaysian censors have passed Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ uncut, but have stipulated that only Christians may see the movie.

Officials have granted access to all ages when the picture opens in a few weeks by awarding the religious epic a U rating, but steered clear of opening it up to the south-east Asian country's non-Christian groups.

Citing a concern for disparate sensibilities, film censorship board secretary Lukeman Saaid told Variety: "It's a deeply religious movie. We live in a multiracial country and we needed to show sensitivity toward other religions, particularly Islam."

Christians account for 9% of the 24 million population, which includes Malays, Chinese, Indians and other ethnic groups, while about 66% are Muslims.

Tickets for the picture, which so far has taken a staggering $609m (£335.6m) at the global box office, will only be sold through churches and it is believed the distributor Fox International will not be allowed to advertise.

Malaysian identity cards do not list the bearer's religion, so there will be plenty of opportunity for non-Christians to obtain a ticket through a friend and sample the picture for themselves.