Replies

I believe he is SSPX. Some people I know see him and his family at Mass at their SSPX chapel. According to my daughter, his own daughter is preparing to enter an SSPX convent. I had heard she was contemplating something like this, but still am not certain it was SSPX and not another traditionalist order.

I think it's significant that it took a traditionalist like Gibson to make The Passion. I read Cardinal George's grudging comments on the film after seeing a rough version--which he admits was powerful and moving. It said a lot to me about where the bishops are coming from. It was the American bishops who received the stolen copy of an early script and immediately gave it to liberal Boston University professors to look over. They, of course, found it to be politically incorrect and joined forces with ADL to smear the film and Gibson. The faith itself always seems to take a back seat with this crowd.

In the end, I believe Gibson will achieve what he has intended--to move and inspire millions of Christians all over the world. I also believe the film will be a blockbuster success--and perhaps break records. It certainly appears it will become a classic, shown over and over to each generation. This is because it does not sentimentalize or prettify what happened but is as powerful as it is beautiful.

The two men--Gibson and Caviezel--are both devout Catholics. Gibson's films--The Patriot, in which he starred, and Braveheart, which he directed--are bold and visionary. Both dealt with horrendous suffering and heroic transcendence. So he would be the perfect director to tell a story like this. Caviezel would seem to be the perfect actor to have played Christ--a man who is the exact age of Jesus at his death and who could combine acting talent with the required spiritual profundity--surely an exceedingly rare combination in most actors. In this sense the film is a miracle and will provide a major corrective to the relentless attacks on Christianity that normally emanate from the entertainment industry.

It said a lot to me about where the bishops are coming from. Why they won't fight even when viciously attacked from the left? Because most Catholics with money and position in this country are very much like John Kennedy in their ignorance of Catholic doctrine and lack of connection with the Church. I was reading the biography of Kennnedy, "An unfinished Life(?)" and was reminded the John Cogley was his mentor before the Houston "Inquisition." (my term). Cogley, the editor of Commonweal. After Humanae Vitae, when he found out that his crowd could not bully the pope to go along with him far enough, bailed out and joined the Episcopal Church. Of course, who do the bishops invite to speak to them last year? She should go where Cogley went. Oh, he's dead?

The two men--Gibson and Caviezel--are both devout Catholics.

EWTN's The World Over Live, with Raymond Arroyo has planned a repeat of their interview with both Mel Gibson and Jim Caviezel.

Friday, August 15
Mel Gibson & Jim Caviezel
Re-air of their most recent interviews about the film “Passion”

Check your local cable company for channel and times. Otherwise, click below for live transmission via the internet.

WORLD OVER LIVE

I don't think Mel Gibson is SSPX at all. In this week's "National Catholic Register" (probably not yet on-line) there is a long story about Mr. Gibson being a guest at the "Regnum Christi Youth and Family Encounter" on Chicago's Navy Pier. It was attended by 5,000 people. I belive "Regnum Christi" is one of the newest movements in the Catholic Church and it has been blessed by JPII. Looks to me, going by the story, that the "Regnum Christi Youth and Family Encounter" was sponsored by the Legionnaires.

The first thing Mr. Gibson did when he got on the podium was to pull out his rosary beads and say "Nothing is more powerful than prayer."

Ya know, if I was as wealthy as Mr. Gibson, I would build my own parish and have it staffed by Legionnaires. Too bad Hollywood never beckoned and too bad I don't get in the habit of buying lottery tickets!