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The idea that all Christian faiths are embraced within "the Church"--meaning, not specifically the Roman Catholic Church, but the body of Christ, the congregation of all believers--is an innovation of Vatican II. Mel belongs to a group of hyper-conservative Catholics who reject the liberalized doctrines put forward by Vatican II. He wants a Latin mass, etc. So it's not surprising that he has adopted a very nineteenth-century view of salvation. People who are new to a faith, a job, or other new commitment sometimes go way overboard. As a new believer he's far more passionate than the cradle Catholics who were raised in the faith.

It's clear from this article and from others I've read that he's not a happy peson. Even with his wealth and power, his charm and looks, the lasting and saintly devotion of his wife (who stayed with him through all his drinking and sexual hijinks in the years before his conversion), despite his seven beautiful children and his tremendous successes, he is suicidal. I'm glad he found this succor for his sorrows, whatever they are, and I hope the high of making this film will stay with him. May his newfound faith comfort him.

Mel belongs to a group of hyper-conservative Catholics who reject the liberalized doctrines put forward by Vatican II. He wants a Latin mass, etc. So it's not surprising that he has adopted a very nineteenth-century view of salvation.

What do you think is more important to Mel and like-minded Catholics, a Latin mass or the doctrines associated with the time when a Latin mass was the only mass ?

True.

Mel belongs to a group of hyper-conservative Catholics who reject the liberalized doctrines put forward by Vatican II. He wants a Latin mass, etc.

True.

So it's not surprising that he has adopted a very nineteenth-century view of salvation.

In the Catholic Church there are no "views" that reflect different centuries. The truth doesn't change. Catholics today still believe what St. Augustine believed back in 400AD and what the apostles believed before him.

People who are new to a faith, a job, or other new commitment sometimes go way overboard. As a new believer he's far more passionate than the cradle Catholics who were raised in the faith.

Gibson is a cradle Catholic. It's just that the other interests in his life -- like being a movie star -- were overshadowing his faith. Now he has gotten back to putting his faith first. But he has always been a Catholic. Witness, for example, that he is probably the only star in Hollywood still successfully married to the same woman for 25 years and with at least 7 children. His oldest daughter is training to be a nun. So he has always been Catholic.