[OldFriend]

Never mind the Holy Family is a wonderful tax shelter too.

Of course Gibson is free to believe whatever it is that he chooses, despite the teachings of the Pope.

Never mind that his father only days ago referred to this Pope as an a$$.........

Flame away because it's clear that those who revere Gibson are keepers of the only true thoughts about the matter.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Tax shelter? He gives $5 million away so that he gets to pay $2 million less in taxes? Boy, WHAT A DEAL!

And who really care WHAT Mel's father says? Are YOU responsible for what your father says and does?

And, yes, Mel is free too read the bible and try to discover it's wisdom all by himself.

[olde north church]

The current pope is an a$$. He gambled the Vatican on the Solidarity movement in Poland and fortunately he won. There are others who were not so worthy, the Cubans, the Iraqis, the Chinese, the Nicaraguans, and several groups on the African continent. I don't recall hearing his voice reaching to the heavens, much to the contrary.
Initiating the canonization of Mother Theresa? That's not too controversial of a position. She's not quite cold yet.
Change Direction - Vatican II was an attempt to make more palatable. It failed miserably. People want to know there is one core on which to depend, Vatican II took that away from them as well.

[It's me]

Never mind that his father only days ago.....

Yeah, yeah, yeah... We've heard it all before...

I certainly wouldn't want to be associated with anything my father says or does.
Apparently, many people feel the same about thier fathers as I do.

[L.N. Smithee]

Of course Gibson is free to believe whatever it is that he chooses, despite the teachings of the Pope.

Who is more honest -- someone who rejects the direction and leadership of the Vatican and sets off on his own course, or a person who figures s/he is Catholic by birth but rarely attends mass and ignores what the Pope says at his/her leisure?

Never mind that his father only days ago referred to this Pope as an a$$.........

I am not a Catholic, but wouldn't call JPII such a name. There have been monsters who served in the Vatican in centuries past; the current one is not one of them.

[Eva]

I believe that I read that the members of Gibson's church don't recognize the authority of the Pope. That is the major difference between Gibson's Catholic church and the Papal Roman Catholic Church. All protestants attest to the belief in the holy catholic church, catholic meaning Christian.