Posted on 09/13/2002 5:08:13 AM PDT by kattracks
Actor Mel Gibson, a staunchly orthodox Roman Catholic who will play Christ in an upcoming movie, says the Vatican is a "wolf in sheep's clothing" and that he doesn't believe in the present-day Church as an institution.
Gibson, who calls himself an "old-fashioned Catholic" devoted to the Latin mass and pre-Vatican II Catholicism told the Italian newspaper Il Giornale that he believes in God and is happy that his only daughter has decided to become a nun.
In Rome to film "Passion," a new film about the final hours of Christ's life, Gibson, 46 recalled that he had a stern Catholic upbringing as a youngster in Australia, where he attended Catholic school.
"My love for religion was transmitted to me by my father," he told the newspaper. "But I do not believe in the Church as an institution." Gibson said he has a private chapel at his home in Malibu, Calif., at which mass is celebrated every Sunday in Latin.
The replacement of the Latin liturgy by vernacular languages has caused many Catholics such as Gibson to seek out parishes where the Latin mass is celebrated on Sundays. The Vatican allows Latin masses but requires permission to be granted by local bishops.
Vatican II rules permit local bishops to apply for so-called "indults" - exceptions that allow mass to be celebrated in Latin. In recent years there has been a growing movement to restore Latin as the language of the mass. Adherents point to the fact that the pope continues to say his private daily mass in Latin
Gibson's objections to the post-Vatican II Church echo those of the members of the Society of St. Pius X, which broke away from Rome partially because of the abandonment of the Latin or Tridentine liturgy. It has chapels scattered around the U.S., where the liturgy is the pre-Vatican II Tridentine mass celebrated in Latin.
In the U.S. the Society claims it has 43 priests, 60 seminarians, 15 priories, 98 chapels and 26 schools.
According to Britain's Times. Gibson and his wife, Robyn, have been married for more than 20 years. He is fiercely protective of his seven children (six sons and one daughter, who he says wants to be a nun, which he is very happy about). He says he was attracted to the story of Christ's last hours before the crucifixion because it is "the drama of a man torn between his divine spirit and his earthly weakness."
In the Garden of Gethsemane, on the road to Calvary and at Golgotha, Gibson said, Jesus is often described as being calmly resigned to his suffering and death despite St. Luke's account of Christ's agony in the Garden of Olives, where he underwent an attack of hematidrosa - where victims sweat blood as a result of profound emotion or great fear.
Gibson says, "my Jesus will be shaken by his human suffering. Real blood will flow from the wound in his side, and the screams of his crucifixion will be real as well."
Catholic sources told the Times that Gibson sought the advice of theologians and prelates in Rome for his film and that the actor has strong views on divorce, abortion and contraception.
I beleive that the character was an Anglican priest, or else how could he be married w/ children. I don't recall that the crucifix was returned to the wall, although I looked for it.
In general though I found the movie a muddle that was a very poor representation of faith and religion, and I agree that people looking for God aren't likely to find Him in a movie theater.
That being said, I'm glad to see Gibson is a faithful son of the church and I respect him for taking a stand when so many take the easy way.
I'll wait for the movie on Christ to come out before passing judgement (although I'm not optimistic).
I've been told I missed the fact it was an Episcopalian collar.
I suppose if he'd been playing a post-op transsexual female minister folks still called "father" out of habit and who had kids from her days as a male, that would have been a dead giveaway he was Church of England.
As it was, I'm one of those Mel Gibson fans that also thinks highly of him for being unabashedly Catholics. It was disconcerting then, to see him cast as a married priest with kids.
That is possible, but certainly the image of the drops of blood are important to Luke, otherwise he would have simply written "katabe epi ten gen" [fell on the ground]. It seems to me that Luke--if these two verses derive from the sacred author--wanted to direct the audience's attention to the reality of the blood.
Mm, well, it's hard for me to give that value to hosei. In fact, I'd say the opposite: if he meant to say it actually was blood, he'd've dropped the hosei. It's difficult to see its point, if it weren't that the good doctor (on the common reading) was saying that it wasn't blood, but was thick like blood.
Otherwise, you'd have to ask yourself what Luke could have been expected to do. "He sweat great drops that, while like blood, of course were not blood..." would be a bit turgid.
But you still win the prize for correctly ID-ing the word in question.
Dan
I have personally assisted visiting priests from Europe who would assume duties while our pastor was on a retreat or vacation. My purpose was to provide them with a sense of timing, emphasis, and pronunciation, when reading from the prepared text. At my suggestion, we would at times alter the reading, as it was written with an obvious anti-male or pro-feminist slant. The American-Marxist-Socialist influence in American Roman Catholic Churches is seen everywhere, and Rome is either to weak to challenge it, or actually supports the disintegration of The Church in America.
Prepared sermons sold in most Christian bookstores are directed to the English (as in St. James) interpretation of the Bible. Presumably, the intent is to provide a speaker with a theme from which he can further expound upon. In our case, elaboration could not be a consideration, as the guest priest was not sufficiently versed in English for that possibility. We've been recently blessed with a new pastor. He is somewhat versed in English, and is attempting to deliver the prepared homily in a fashion that might lead one to believe the words are his own. There is always hope for a brighter tomorrow.
By calling ourselves Catholic, we are expected to be obedient to our shepherds, no matter how we may feel about the growing liberality of U.S. dioceses. Maybe Mel, et al. need to read scripture and see the importance that God places on obedience over all other things. God asked Abraham to do the unthinkable and sacrifice Isaac (as a foreshadowing of Christ's sacrfice), and Abraham obeyed. God, of course, stopped him. God will surely take care of the Church He built.
Maybe Mel Gibson needs to re-examine his reasons for rejecting the Post-Vatican II Church. Although we may empathize with his love of the Latin rite and pre-V2 trappings, he may eventually find himself more closely identifying with a man named Luther than a man named Peter if he isn't careful...
patent +AMDG
Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers
Probably not the book to which you were referring, but I think it has much useful material.
Meant to say ....this site happy.
Conservatives like Mel Gibson have not abandoned the Roman Catholic Church. The church has abandoned them. It must be heartbreaking for lifelong conservative Catholics to realize that their church has been highjacked by entrenched sexual deviates at all levels. Like a malignancy, they would rather see the church destroyed than to resign and leave.
It was a simile. The drops were big and heavy LIKE drops of blood.
(c8
Dan
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