I had another interesting conversation last light with our (liberal) parish nun, regarding whether Mel Gibson considered himself a "Roman Catholic." She did not consider him "Roman Catholic" because he called himself a "traditionalist Catholic" in the PrimeTime interview. I've heard him refer to himself as a Roman Catholic on several occasions.
Confused, I asked why someone who was born, raised, and continues to practice in the Traditional manner (in this case, the Tridentine Rite....not contrary to Vatican II guidelines) could not be considered "Roman Catholic."
She said he stated in the interview that he (and his Holy Family Church in Malibu...a "splinter group" as she put it) rejects Vatican II (per his statements in the interview), thus puts himself 'above' the Church and cannot be considered in union with Rome.
Needless to say, I've become confused at a higher level now, LOL. (I also maintain that some of his interview might have been taken out of context...they took a four hour sitting and condensed it into 1 hour). Any thoughts? It sounds to me that the term "Roman Catholic" is loose, depending on what "it" is.
I think Mel is probably more in line with traditonal Catholicism then most care to admit.
We've certainly lost a great deal of the mysteries, and the sacredness of the Mass since Vatican 2. How many Catholics attend Confession, or pray the rosary since the inception of Vatican 2?
We've lost too much, and now there really seems to be a spiritual hunger for those things that were evident in Mass prior to Vatican 2.
I think your nun has to cut out the "nunsense", and not judge Mel. He will probably have turned more people to Christ than a 1000 post vatican 2 nuns could ever dream of doing.