Mel Gibson, dad back church

Pittsburgh Live ^ | January 25, 2006 | Richard Gazarick

[NYer]

Hutton Gibson has been making a three-hour drive each week for the past year from his home in Summersville, W.Va., to rural Westmoreland County, a round trip of more than 300 miles, just to attend Sunday Mass.

Now, the 87-year-old Gibson plans to have his own church in Mt. Pleasant Township.

The church is St. Michael the Archangel Chapel, now located in a ranch-style brick home along Route 982 South between the villages of Lycippus and Weltytown.

Gibson is no ordinary parishioner.

Gibson is the father of actor-director Mel Gibson and a follower of an ultraconservative branch of Catholicism that rejects the liturgical reforms adopted in the early 1960s resulting from the Second Vatican Council -- commonly referred to as Vatican II.

The worldwide movement was started by the late Marcel Lefebvre, a French bishop who broke with the Vatican and began appointing his own bishops and ordaining priests. There are no accurate figures on membership.

St. Michael's pastor is a former diocesan priest, Leonard Bealko, who is not in good standing with the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg, according to Monsignor Lawrence Persico, vicar general of the diocese.

The man behind the new church is Mel Gibson, according to John Maher, of Greensburg, a member of St. Joseph the Protector Chapel on St. Clair Way in Hempfield Township, another Catholic group that holds weekly Masses in Latin.

[Northern Yankee]

Thanks for clearing that up.

I know I can count on you, Karen.

Maybe you should lobby to be Mel's press agent?

[jecIIny]

The elder Gibson is not a traditionalist, he is a certifiable nut case. He is a sedevacantist, rabidly anti-semitic (unlike his son), and he sees the present state of the Church as a far reaching plot between Jews and Freemasons.

[Aquinasfan]

he sees the present state of the Church as a far reaching plot between Jews and Freemasons.

OK. That establishes his nuthood.

[RobbyS]

if you read the Vatican II liturgical document, it was ignored in creating the current Mass. The nub of the question. It was created in accordance with the "spirit" of VII, Sort of like the "a story based on fact" that you read in the movie credits. What's the new term? Truthiness?"

[marshmallow]

The article does mention Lefebvre and implies that Gibson is a part of his "worldwide movement".

The error is with the journalist, not the poster.

[marshmallow]

The elder Gibson is not a traditionalist, he is a certifiable nut case. He is a sedevacantist, rabidly anti-semitic (unlike his son), and he sees the present state of the Church as a far reaching plot between Jews and Freemasons.

Such opinions are also in vogue in some sections of the SSPX you may be interested to know.

[jecIIny]

As a former SSPXer I can affirm that statement from personal knowledge. It was one of the main reasons that moved me to reconsider my affiliation with them. After looking at the big picture I left them and went back to attending Orthodox services which is what I have done most of my adult life.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

Anyone can build a chapel and have Mass celebrated in it as a private function. The Priest celebrating also does not have to have permission from the Bishop of the place, although he should be in good standing with his own Bishop (i.e. not suspedned, interdicted, or excommunicated). I have some wealthy friends who have done this at two of their properties in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

This is no different from having a priest over to your house and him saying Mass for you in your living room. You can even have a small group of friends attend such a Mass.

What cannot be done is to reserve the Blessed Sacrament, or have a public celebration of Mass, or solicit money during a collection as if the chapel is a parish or chapel of the Catholic Church.

[murphE]

The article does mention Lefebvre and implies that Gibson is a part of his "worldwide movement".

The poster knows that there are many people who identify themselves as traditional Catholics who have nothing to do with the SSPX, and although there is no mention of the SSPX in the article the poster chose to insert "SSPX" into the original title of article. It has since been changed back to the original title by the moderator.

[marshmallow]

Here is what the article says:

Gibson is the father of actor-director Mel Gibson and a follower of an ultraconservative branch of Catholicism that rejects the liturgical reforms adopted in the early 1960s resulting from the Second Vatican Council -- commonly referred to as Vatican II. The worldwide movement was started by the late Marcel Lefebvre, a French bishop who broke with the Vatican and began appointing his own bishops and ordaining priests. There are no accurate figures on membership.

The four letters "SSPX" are not mentioned. However, it's founder most certainly is. As is his "worldwide movement." Is the worldwide movement which Lefebvre founded known as the SSPX?

Anyone not fully acquainted with Gibson or his beliefs, could legitimately conclude from this that he was somehow affiliated with it.

Again, the primary error here is with the journalist. It is he who introduces the name of Lefebvre and his "worldwide movement." However, he deserves to be cut a little slack on this one as does the poster. The pedigree of every inhabitant of the sedevacantist fever swamp is known to but a few.

[dangus]

300 miles / 3 hours = 100 mph. Not bad.

(I guess the 300 miles was round trip, the 3 hours was each way?)

[dangus]

So, Hunter Gibson walks into a bar... The bartender asks, "Why the long face?"

[Larry Lucido]

Man looks as surly and crusty as Alton Benes.

[Cagey]

Master of the house
Doling out the charm
Ready with a handshake
And an open palm

[kstewskis]

Liturgical forms od Vatican II?

Whoops!

Sorry for the typo, I mean reforms.

[kstewskis]

Ah, makes sense.

Thanks for filling in some blanks.

[kstewskis]

I have it on good information that Hutton attended the local sedevacantist chapel here in Houston (no, I have never been there) when he lived here.

Do you know what it's called? What "sect" or what do they call themselves?

[Victoria Delsoul]

I have my doubts about the insinuations the writer of this article is making, without having all the facts.

I agree with that statement. Let's have all the facts first.

Tridentine isn't offered only by SSPX, as then Cardinal Ratzinger said in 1996: “So, as you can see, you can be very much a part of the Tridentine Mass and still be in communion with Rome.”

[Theophane]

I understand that the chapel is called "Saint Jude's" and is in Stafford, Texas, a suburb of Houston. I believe that it is not affiliated with or served by one of the sedevacantist groups like the SSPV (note: "V", not "X", the first SSPV guys were originally SSPXers who were expelled from the SSPX by Abp Lefebvre when it became clear they were sedevacantists, which Lefebvre never was). Instead I hear they have an "independent" priest there.

[donbosco74]

I like your tag line. You could add that you don't have a diabolical spouse who hired a scheister lawyer who paid off a corrupt judge who hasn't ruled that you die, nor has your bishop run off to Rome to hide till it's all over.

I feel a song coming on...