There is a proverb that begins, "If wishes were horses then beggars would ride." More or less, it is saying that wishes and reality are different things; just because someone wishes something to be true doesn't make it so. It is a sentiment that ought to be remembered when watching Bruce Burgess's new documentary, Bloodline.
Following the books Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Da Vinci Code, the movie explores the possibility that Mary Magdalene and possibly Jesus went to France following the Crucifixion and that Mary may or may not have had kids with Jesus which she may or may not have brought to France with her. It's a lot of "if" and "maybe" and "possibly," and, unfortunately, the documentary never actually provides any answers.
Burgess, who plays a huge on-screen part as narrator and explorer in the film, interviews numerous people, some claiming to be affiliated with the Priory of Sion, which, according to some documents, knows the whereabouts of the proof that shows Jesus and Mary to have had kids and gone to France following the alleged Crucifixion. The basic problem is that the Priory is a secret society and that as such, one can't trust that the people Burgess meets who claim to be members of the group are members of the group. It is also never explained why a secret society would place letters and documents in public archives if they are, in fact, a secret society.
In a nutshell, that's the problem with the entire documentary, if the documentary is taken as fact – no proof of anything, whatsoever, can be offered the viewer. It's all a lot of fascinating supposition, and terribly intriguing for the majority of its nearly two hour runtime, but it offers no proof whatsoever.
Following his look at the Priory, Burgess goes to Rennes-le-Chateau, where, a hundred years ago, a Priest named Bérenger Saunière, according to legend, found out information that would crush the Catholic Church. Various documents indicate that Saunière's discovery was Mary Magdalene's body and proof of a Jesus-Mary bloodline.
Article comments
1 - Paul Smith
DRAC, the French archaeological body of France, knows nothing about this. Nobody in France is taking that much notice of this. It has yet to appear in a French newspaper article. Even though it has been in circulation since 1999. A con.
2 - George
Sounds like another Anti-Christian movie.
3 - Martin
Surprise, surprise - How did I know Paul Smith would be the first to post a comment?
4 - Philoe
I saw it and it's not half bad. It is a fun diversion but not hard science. Worth a watch or rental.
5 - Paul Smith
The promoters of Andre Douzet and believers in the bogus Rennes-le-Chateau "mystery" have done their own debunking of "Bloodline".
Absolutely nothing to do with jealousy or esoteric rivalry, of course!
6 - marty
Just heard about the movie this morning on ABC. I remember what Carl Sagan said about theories in "Demon Haunted World", that they are only as strong as their weakest link.
The Priory of Sion was admitted as a lie in court by its inventor (I forget the name, its in Holy Blood Holy Grail). I am in TOTAL agreement with the other posters that say it needs more hard science and archeology. Everyone is falling for anything these days.
The concept that Mary Magdalene came to southern France was debunked in the 20's by no less than Arthur Waite. We would do better to pay attention to a dead occultist.
7 - Bob Leatherwood
If this documentary can illuminate details around Sauniere's life and death, then it is worthy of the time and effort....the Jesus Mary thing..two thousand years is too long ago and no proof sufficient for those who choose to believe or not.
8 - Paul Smith
Sauniere's life is well documented. The only mysteries that surround his life and death are the fabricated lies that have arisen since the 1950s. And which Bruce Burgess is repeating.
9 - Nathalie
The movie claims that a priest named Berenger Saunier discovered the truth about Jesus and Mary and was paid millions to keep quiet by the Vatican. Here is the more likely truth and that is he ripped off his parishioners for millions.
From Wikipedia:
The popular story of Saunière's wealth
Supporters of the various conspiracy theories of Rennes-le-Château believe that while renovating his parish church in 1891, Saunière found ancient documents relating to a great historical secret. These theories allege that, through his possession of these documents, Saunière was somehow able to obtain much more wealth than would be expected of a parish priest. The documents were allegedly discovered in a "hollow visigothic pillar" according to the book "Le Tresor Maudit" by Gerard de Sede.
Following Saunière's death in 1917 a mystique developed about the priest's source of wealth. There was a theory that he was paid vast sums of money by the Catholic Church to buy his silence on a secret that would have seriously undermined the church's power: the most extraordinary claim being that he had discovered the grave in which Christ had been buried, implying that Christ had not ascended to heaven.
The actual source of Saunière's wealth
Saunière's source of wealth is of petty church scandal: "The source of the wealth of the priest of Rennes-le-Chateau was not some ancient mysterious treasure, but good old fashioned fraud."
According to canon law, priests were allowed to say up to three masses per day and to accept a fee for requested prayers for the dead. Saunière, however, had been soliciting and accepting money via the post to say thousands of masses, charging one franc per mass. Some clients would send payment for hundreds of masses, which he never actually performed. In 1906, he was summoned before the Bishop's Court in Carcassonne, where the bishopric ordered Saunière to stop advertising for masses, an order which Saunière strained every effort not to obey.
Saunière's account books, detailing how much money he was receiving from the selling of masses that he could not actually perform, run into thousands of pages.