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.
When I saw the headline, I knew this story wasn't true. Even Mel Gibson is no match for those Swiss mercenaries in the funny outfits.
Dan
However later on they showed that he was not Roman Catholic priest but I believe Anglican
This is the first I've heard of this. Can you elaborate?
And who is to certify the the available masses in a given diocese are not GIRM-compliant? Can't imagine any local ordinary signing off on that.
I don't know about Mel, but his father, Hutton, is a sede-vacantist who has written such books as, "Is the Pope Catholic".
About the only thing that may be accurate in the story is that Mel is Catholic,Yes, they may have that right, but if he is a Sedevacantist, they are wrong on that as well.
patent +AMDG
To me, attacking the legitmacy of the institutional Church seems the very definition of Leftism.
Whether Mr. Gibson knows it or not, the Credo that he recites in Latin every week includes a profession of faith in an apostolic Church -- IOW, one that has a visible, hierarchical structure. To be an "apostle" is to be sent, not self-appointed.
You hit on a really good point. On Wednesday, 9-11-02, I had the day off. I went to Mass that morning. Considering the day the priest gave the most ridiculously bland and insipid sermon delivered from www.sermons.com. He mentioned nothing of 9-11 and didn't try to inspire, comfort, rally, anything. It's like he took random words out of a dictionary, inserted Jesus and love a few times and Voila we have a sermon (oops, I mean homily).
It is rare that I hear a priest speak even moderately well.
My favorite priest ever was an old gentleman who was a Chaplain in WWII. I think he saw a lot of action too, but I cannot remember. His sermons ALWAYS had a point. He would make his point, back it up, and finish. It was wonderful to hear him speak.
True, all true. But none of this should prevent us from sometimes questioning whether there could be subversion from within. I'm thinking about faulty ISL translations of the liturgy, or the gay subculture in the clergy, or flaming liberalism taught in seminaries, or the mal-conceived notion that the Latin right was thrown away at Vatican II (rather than supplemented by the option of the vernacular). If the Vatican does things which seem in error, and which are not backed by declarations of infallibility, what is a Catholic of good conscience to do? Just go along, or ask why, or what?
patent
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