[A. Patriot]

No one in the Catholic Church is empowered to build his own chapels or separate himself from the Pope, which Gibson has done.

Almost sounds like the Protestant movement of Martin Luther.(ie:separation from the Roman Church because of disagreements in doctrine and practices.)

I think this is a good thing. The Roman Catholic Church is in need of MAJOR reforms (IMHO). It needs to go back to a time when its focus was on Holiness, not pedophilia and pederasty.

[CobaltBlue]

Breaking off from the Catholic Church and going your own way is certainly not a new phenomenon. To a Protestant, breaking off from your church and going your own way means something very different than it does to a Catholic.

It is one of the moral duties of mankind to be true to your own conscience regardless of the consequences, so nobody is saying Gibson should not do what he has done.

But it's also true that one cannot at one and the same time reject the fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church and claim to be a good Catholic.