DePaul University’s Religious Studies department will host a roundtable discussion about the Mel Gibson film, “The Passion of the Christ,” April 8 from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., in the Schmitt Academic Center, 2320 N. Kenmore Ave., Room 254.

Participants are: the Rev. James Halstead, O.S.A., chair of religious studies and program moderator; Christopher Mount, assistant professor and biblical scholar; the Rev. Christopher Robinson, C.M., assistant professor and theologian; Alexei Sivertsev, assistant professor and scholar of Rabbinic Judaism; and Arlene Sanchez-Walsh, assistant professor and Evangelical minister.

According to Halstead, questions and themes to be explored include the authenticity of the film’s trial scene; the film’s historicity or lack thereof; whether or not God intends for Christ’s passion and death to be appeased, and reasons for the film’s powerful impact on American culture.

The discussion is free and open to the public.