The intrigue surrounding a reported quote by Pope John Paul II praising Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" heightened today as the columnist who first reported the papal utterance shared new information about the controversy.

As WorldNetDaily reported, last month, writing in the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan quoted the film's co-producer, Steve McEveety, as saying the pope viewed the film in his private quarters and afterward gave a five-word review: "It is as it was."

The quote, Noonan wrote, was passed on to McEveety by the pope's close friend and secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz. The story about the quote was corroborated by the National Catholic Reporter and Reuters.

This week, however, Catholic News Service ran a story quoting Dziwisz as saying the pope "told no one his opinion of this film."

"I said clearly to McEveety and [assistant director Jan] Michelini that the Holy Father made no declaration," the archbishop said, according to the news service.

In her current column, Noonan tells how she received news of the quote directly from McEveety, who says the pope's longtime official spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, told him he could use the papal quote when discussing the film.

Noonan writes she later confirmed via e-mail with Navarro-Valls that the quote was authentic:

"… I e-mailed Dr. Navarro Valls at the Vatican telling him I wanted to write a piece for OpinionJournal and asking him about the quote. I didn't hear back and sent another: 'Dr. Navarro Valles [sic], my deadline is in two hours and I do hope you'll let me know if there is anything on the pope's reaction beyond "It is as it was" – wonderful words, and I know you have already been in touch with Steve about them, but I would greatly appreciate it if there's anything you could add regarding general Vatican feeling on the film, any further comment from the Holy Father, etc. Best, Peggy Noonan.'

"I got a response. 'Dear Peggy, I don't have for now any other comment on this. I [sic] anything is said in the future I will send it to you. Greetings, J. Navarro-Valls.'"

Continues Noonan: "When questions surfaced challenging the quote, Mr. McEveety e-mailed Dr. Navarro-Valls and asked for his help. He answered by e-mail advising Mr. McEveety not to worry, to use the phrase 'It is as it was,' and to repeat those words 'again and again and again.' Mr. McEveety sent me a copy of the e-mail."

The columnist reports, however, Rod Dreher of the Dallas Morning News queried Navarro-Valls by e-mail about how the Vatican could now deny the quote after the spokesman had encouraged its use. According to Noonan, Dreher received an e-mail back from Navarro-Valls saying the previous e-mails from him "were not authentic."

"The return address on Dr. Navarro-Valls's e-mail to Rod Dreher was the same as the one on his e-mails to me," wrote Noonan. "We did some checking on Dr. Navarro-Valls's e-mail to me of Dec. 17. It was sent via an e-mail server in the Vatican's domain, and the IP address belongs to a Vatican computer.

"I have not yet had a response from Dr. Navarro-Valls, but hope to. I have also written to Steve McEveety and asked if he has any response to Dr. Navarro-Valls' assertion that what Steve said were e-mails from Dr. Navarro-Valls were in fact not authentic."

Navarro-Valls today released a statement that mentioned the film but did not specifically address the alleged quote.

"It is the Holy Father's custom not to express public judgments on artistic works, judgments which are always open to diverse evaluations of an aesthetic nature," he said.

Inside the Vatican, an independent periodical coving the Catholic state, pointed out Navarro-Valls' statement "stops short of saying 'John Paul II did not say "It is as it was" after viewing the film.'

"Thus, the statement, which evidently is attempted to clarify a very confused situation, leaves unclear the most important question, which people are now asking all around the world: Did or did not the pope say, after viewing the film on Dec. 5 and 6, 2003: 'It is as it was'?"

Besides reporting on the recent comments of Dziwisz, Catholic News Service recently posted on its website a story highlighting the mixed messages that often emanate from the Vatican.

"Particularly in recent months, it seems that Vatican officials are not always working from the same script. On issues as diverse as events in Iraq and the morality of condom use, the universal church seems to be speaking with more than one voice," the news service reported.

Meanwhile, Gibson's film, which portrays the last 12 hours of Christ's life and the resurrection, was screened for a conference of 5,000 pastors in Orlando, Fla., last night.

"I think this work can change things," Gibson told the pastors before the film began, reported the Washington Times. The filmmaker hopes the pastors will help build anticipation for the film, which opens on 2,000 screens Feb. 25.

Read WorldNetDaily's coverage of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."